Landry & Swarr Obtains $129 Million Verdict for the Family of Emma Bell Savoie: Slidell 6-Year-Old Killed on School Grounds
Covington, Louisiana
November 8, 2024
Six year old Emma Bell Savoie was hit and killed by a vehicle in the parking lot of the Our Lady of Lourdes Roman Catholic School grounds on the afternoon of February 23, 2022.
Two and a half years later on November 8, 2024, her family was awarded $129 million with 4 charges finding negligence in a triumphant civil suit tried in St. Tammany Parish court over Emma’s death.
Initially, school and Parish Church officials claimed that Emma’s death was an unfortunate but unavoidable accident that occurred as a result of her “darting out” into traffic.
Her parents believed Emma’s death could have been prevented when they learned that school officials allowed children as young as 6 years old to participate in an after-school “Run Club” which followed a dangerous route leading children directly into the path of cars in the afternoon carpool line.
The family retained the New Orleans-based law firm of Landry and Swarr, with partner Frank Swarr leading the case.
The civil suit was filed against Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School, alleging Emma’s death was the result of the school’s negligence by forcing children to run a run club route that unnecessarily took them into a busy afternoon car line.
School officials argued that Emma ran out unexpectedly into traffic in a tragic accident, despite having what they believed were adequate safety precautions for afternoon carpool pickup.
However, during the course of the trial, witnesses and outside experts testified that school officials were grossly negligent in their oversight of the run club route which directly led students as young as 6 years old to cross directly into afternoon car pickup line without adequate adult supervision or crossing guards.
Additionally, Run Club parents were never notified that school officials changed the route to include leading 30 or more kids per day through traffic on multiple laps as they crossed school grounds, meaning they had no knowledge that their children were running this route twice a week through car line.
Emma’s death was originally reported as an accident. However, after a grueling week of witnesses and difficult testimony, a jury of 12 unanimously concluded that the evidence overwhelmingly showed Emma’s death was a result of negligence, and could easily have been prevented with a few changes in school procedures.
“This entire situation could have been easily prevented with a little bit of planning,” noted one of the expert witnesses.
The jury voted unanimously to award the Savoie family a verdict of $129 million that sends a message to school officials that the safety of their students must be top priority.
Lead attorney Frank Swarr added “Today, an educated, thoughtful Jury of twelve St. Tammany Parish residents heard what really happened on February 23, 2022, and they spoke loudly and forcefully that the negligence shown by Our Lady of Lourdes will not be tolerated here. We parents entrust the safety of our precious children to our schools on a daily basis, and we will not take lightly any carelessness or neglect in their care. I can only hope that after years of misinformation, denials and excuses, this verdict, this public repudiation of what was allowed to happen to Emma Bell Savoie and her brother by the school trusted in their care, will give Brent and Amy some measure of peace and justice as they continue to grieve the unimaginable loss of Emma as well as her brother’s continuing recovery from the trauma of what he witnessed that day.”