Las Vegas, Nevada – A former teacher at Eldorado High School in Las Vegas filed a lawsuit against the Clark County School District, alleging that the district failed to protect her from a violent attack by one of her students. The teacher, known as Sade Doe in the lawsuit, was brutally beaten and sexually assaulted in her classroom in April 2022.
According to the lawsuit, the teacher claims that the school district was aware of violence issues at Eldorado and other schools in the district before the attack occurred. The incident took place during mandatory after-school office hours, when the student, Jonathan Eluterio Martinez Garcia, entered her classroom under the guise of discussing missing assignments.
The lawsuit also highlights that Garcia’s violent tendencies were not communicated to the teacher, despite a scheduled conference with his parents to discuss behavioral concerns just two weeks prior to the attack. Additionally, the teacher was not informed of any safety or security issues at the school or provided with formal training on handling violent students.
Garcia, who was charged as an adult, pleaded guilty to attempted murder, attempted sexual assault, and battery with a deadly weapon resulting in serious bodily harm. He was sentenced to 16 to 40 years in prison and is currently serving his sentence at Lovelock Correctional Center in rural Northern Nevada.
In response to the incident, the Clark County School District has implemented new security measures district-wide, including badge-style panic buttons, single points of entry onto campuses, fencing, and upgraded surveillance cameras. Eldorado High School was one of the first schools to receive these enhancements, with an estimated cost of $26 million.
The lawsuit names the school district, former Superintendent Jesus Jara, and Eldorado Principal Christina Brockett as defendants, seeking damages exceeding $50,000 and requesting a jury trial. A district spokesman declined to comment on the pending litigation.
The teacher, who moved to Las Vegas in 2020 after graduating from college in Washington state, no longer works in the school district due to lingering physical and psychological effects from the attack.