Family of 14-year-old boy killed in Santa Ana High School stabbing files claim against district

SANTA ANA, Calif. (KABC) -- The family of a 14-year-old boy stabbed to death outside Santa Ana High School filed a claim against the school district Tuesday, claiming it failed to provide adequate campus security and supervision.

The family of Armando Morales held a press conference Tuesday morning alongside their attorneys. The claim alleges the Santa Ana Unified School District along with school administrators and staff members were negligent and reckless in providing proper supervision for the students.

On May 7, Morales, a freshman at Santa Ana High, was killed in the stabbing after school.

Video recorded by another student captured the fight leading up to the stabbing, including the moment those watching realized one of the teens was swinging a knife. Witnesses said Morales was trying to break up the fight to help his friend and was fatally stabbed. He died at the hospital.

A 2023 letter to the district's school board from attorneys representing the Santa Ana Police Officers Association warned the district that understaffing at the district's police department had reached a critical level and there were not enough officers to respond to all after-school threats and assaults.

"This school district has been put on notice about these red flags, about these safety concerns, since August of 2023 and they did nothing," said Michael Carrillo, one of the attorneys representing the Morales family. "They didn't have enough staff supervising the kids as they're getting out for the day. They didn't have enough time and attention to pay to these kids as they're leaving, and it resulted in this horrendous murder that you see on camera."

They allege the school didn't do enough to protect Armando before and after the stabbings.

"We have information that the school district took him inside and did not give him lifesaving measures as they should have and delayed his treatment, and ultimately bled out as a result and he died because of that," Carrillo said.

Two other students were also stabbed but survived. Two brothers, ages 15 and 17, have since been charged with murder and attempted murder in the stabbings.

"There's days that I don't sleep at all just thinking of what happened ... what he was going through," said Morales' mother Brenda Aburto. "If people were there, I have many questions."

"For me as mom, I was thinking that my child was safe more in school than being out here in the streets," she added.

Meanwhile, Santa Ana USD released a statement Tuesday, saying the district has received the claim and is reviewing it.

"As this matter may involve potential litigation, the District is unable to provide further comment involving this claim," read the statement. "The safety and well-being of our students remains our highest priority. We continue focused on maintaining a safe, inclusive, and supportive learning environment for all students."