Collette Family Suing School Board Over Shooting

Family of Dillard High teen killed by classmate filing wrongful death suit

Just weeks after Teah Wimberly was sent to prison for 25 years for shooting her Dillard High classmate and friend Amanda Collette on school grounds, the family of Collette has announced they'll file a wrongful death lawsuit against the school board.

The Collette family and their attorneys announced the lawsuit filing this morning outside the Broward County Courthouse.

"We can't get her back but the fact that someone knew about it and it could've been prevented just makes it even harder to deal with," Teshawnia Thompson, Collette's aunt, said. "If we can prevent this from happening to any other students, that's our goal here today."

Wimberly shot and killed Collette outside of the school's computer lab on Nov. 12, 2008. Collette and Wimberly, both sophomores at Dillard, had been friends since elementary school, but had stopped talking after a dispute.

According to police, Wimberly took a .22-caliber chrome pistol to school, and when Collette refused to talk to Wimberly and walked away, Wimberly pulled out the gun and shot Collette. Wimberly stated she shot her friend so "she could feel pain, too."

The Collette family claims Wimberly told another student that she was going to harm Collette and the student told a teacher, but nothing was done about the threat.

"[The] teacher, failed to take action or reasonable steps to protect students at Dillard High School," the family and attorneys claim, according to a released statement.

Wimberly, 16, was convicted of second degree murder last year and won't be able to seek parole for another 20 years.

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