OGDEN -- The Ogden School District says it isn't responsible for the death of a 7-year-old boy from a congenital heart condition in 2010 following a Halloween parade at Horace Mann Elementary School.
Maria Flores filed a wrongful death suit earlier this month in 2nd District Court on behalf of her son, Jose Edwardo Flores Bedolla, who was a first-grader at Horace Mann at the time of his death.
Flores is seeking in excess of $300,000 in damages.
Assistant Attorney General Philip S. Lott filed a response to the suit Tuesday in 2nd District Court on behalf of the Ogden School District. Lott said in the response the district isn't liable for Bedolla's death, but doesn't offer details.
Lott also asks the court to dismiss the lawsuit. Officials with the Ogden School District could not be reached for comment.
Bedolla had hypoplastic left heart syndrome which occurs when the left side of the heart is critically underdeveloped.
The suit contends the Ogden School District knew of Bedolla's condition but failed to formulate a health and emergency care plan for him.
On Oct. 29, 2010, Horace Mann Elementary held a Halloween parade for students and Bedolla attended, dressed as a policeman. School district employees made Bedolla participate in the school's Halloween activities, the suit states.
However, Bedolla's heart condition made him susceptible to becoming hypoxic, which means he did not get enough oxygen to his heart and body, according to the suit.
Bedolla's mother and sister picked him up from school and met paramedics who took him to McKay-Dee Hospital's emergency room where he died.
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