Make California Post a Preferred Source A Los Angeles high school senior who jumped to his death after a classroom beating had endured years of bullying, his mother has alleged in a damages claim.
Xavier Nungaray-Martinez, 17, was repeatedly punched in the face and beaten at Benjamin Franklin High School in Highland Park on Sept. 30, while an LAUSD teacher stood nearby yelling for the students to stop.
But staff allegedly did nothing to physically end the attack, summon school police or security, or separate the assailant from Xavier, according to his mother Lilia Nungaray.
“Despite that knowledge, LAUSD and its employees failed to take the steps necessary to protect XAVIER,” the filing states, accusing employees of failing to “physically intervene to stop the assault once it began, rather than merely yelling at the students to stop.”
The claim further alleges staff failed to “summon school police, security, administrators, or other staff when the assault began” or “separate the assailant from Xavier and secure Xavier’s safety.”
LAUSD removed campus police officers in 2021 after George Floyd’s death, replacing them with roving officers who cover multiple schools and respond when called.
Administrators can request help for assaults and major fights, while staff must call 911 first in life-threatening emergencies, according to the department’s 2026 policy manual.
Xavier fled the classroom but moments later plunged from the fourth-floor railing. His mother alleges no staff followed him or rendered aid.
The claim further alleges that the blows to Xavier’s head left him dazed and disoriented, while the terror and confusion of the assault sent him into a panic.
Nungaray filed the damages claim against LAUSD on Oct. 15, the mandatory legal step before suing a public agency in California.
Her attorneys at Panish Shea Ravipudi LLP accuse the district of negligence, failing to supervise students and allowing a dangerous campus environment to persist.
The claim does not specify a dollar amount, instead seeking damages exceeding the minimum jurisdictional threshold for California Superior Court. That minimum threshold is more than $35,000.
The filing paints a disturbing picture of what Xavier’s mother describes as years of unchecked bullying at the school — including an earlier incident in which administrators allegedly turned the blame back on the teenager.
Years before his death, Xavier and his mother met with Franklin High administrators over a separate bullying incident when he was a sophomore.
But rather than simply addressing the alleged harassment, school officials partially blamed Xavier for what happened, according to the claim.
The experience allegedly left the teenager afraid to report further bullying because he believed he would be punished instead of the students targeting him.
His mother’s attorneys also take aim at LAUSD’s own anti-bullying policy, arguing that its language discourages students from speaking up and gives administrators too much discretion over whether complaints warrant an investigation.
The district’s policy describes bullying as both “underreported and over-identified,” while warning administrators against confusing actual bullying with “a casual use of the word bullying.”
The filing argues that the approach could have helped silence students like Xavier.
“A policy that tells administrators to be skeptical of students who report bullying is a policy that keeps students like XAVIER, who already feared that reporting would get him punished, from coming forward,” the claim states.
The allegations also raise questions about whether LAUSD should have recognized the potentially deadly consequences of student violence before Xavier’s death.
The claim points to another fatal bullying incident at an LAUSD campus just seven months earlier.
On Feb. 17, a 12-year-old student at Reseda Charter High School was struck in the head with a metal water bottle during a bullying incident, according to the filing.
The child underwent emergency brain surgery but died from her injuries. Her family subsequently filed a claim against LAUSD and sued the district.
“LAUSD also knew, well before September 30, 2026, that student-on-student violence on its campuses can kill,” Xavier’s family’s claim states.
“Seven months later, XAVIER was beaten in a Franklin High School classroom in front of a teacher, fled, and fell to his death.”
The filing also cites alarming district-wide violence figures, alleging that LAUSD recorded 6,620 reported episodes of fights and physical aggression during the 2023-2024 school year — a 33 percent increase from the previous year.
Nearly one in 10 students reported feeling physically unsafe at district campuses, according to the statistics cited in the claim.
Even LAUSD’s own leadership had raised concerns about the worsening situation.
Xavier’s mother alleges that the district failed on multiple fronts, including by not adequately investigating the bullying, addressing the alleged aggressor’s propensity for violence, intervening during the classroom beating or monitoring her son after he escaped.
The claim also alleges that the fourth-floor railing and lack of adequate barriers created a dangerous condition that posed a foreseeable risk to students.
It further accuses school employees of violating California’s Safe Place to Learn Act, which requires school personnel to take immediate steps to intervene when witnessing bullying or harassment when it is safe to do so.
The filing alleges that a racial slur was directed at Xavier during the classroom assault, and that the district failed to step in and stop race-based harassment as state law requires. Video of the fight previously obtained by The Post appears to show the other student hurling the n-word at Xavier.
Police sources previously told The Post that witnesses said Xavier may have started the fight, which was filmed and shared widely online. The LAPD has said detectives “have not identified evidence establishing a connection between allegations of bullying and the student’s death.”
The LAPD’s Robbery-Homicide Division is still investigating Xavier’s death.
The identity of the teacher who witnessed the beating was not included in the filing.
Xavier is survived by his mother, who says the district’s failures cost her son his life.
“If LAUSD had taken reasonable steps to protect XAVIER, he would not have been beaten on Sept. 30, 2026, would not have gone over the fourth-floor railing, and would still be alive today,” the claim states.
“Los Angeles Unified does not comment on pending or ongoing litigation,” a Los Angeles Unified spokesperson told the Post.
