Family of Stanford soccer player Katie Meyer sues school over her suicide death: ‘They should be ashamed of what they did’
On Friday, a coroner determined Katie Meyer’s death to be a suicide; her family says that while they agree her death was a suicide, they are still pressing for a civil lawsuit against her college and the University of California. The story behind her death, and what’s been happening since, is a tragedy that has exposed the depths of the Stanford sexual assault and harassment scandal.
Stanford sexual assault and harassment scandal.
In an e-mail to NBC Bay Area on Thursday, Katie’s mother, Barbara, said:
“What happened to my daughter at USC is an abhorrent, intolerable and unacceptable act of violence. I hold the university responsible for it. My daughter lost her life at USC in the way that she chose. We hold the university responsible for their failure to protect her. I hold the University of California responsible. They should be ashamed of what they did to my daughter and the way they handled it.”
“The truth is we cannot allow this to be swept under the rug with a media blackout,” she continued. “What happened did occur. As is common in sexual assault survivor cases, there was a delay in the reporting to authorities. I have been following this case closely since it began… and I find it impossible to think Katie’s family won’t be impacted by what happens next. I find it hard to believe the family won’t be impacted, after all, we have lost a child and what happens next is not just to us, but to this community.”
Katie and her sister, Samantha Meyer, visited campus in 2017 as part of a fundraising initiative. In a video posted to Facebook, Samantha spoke of the visit: “I did get an opportunity to meet with some of my best friends, and I talked to my mom and some of my friends. I did meet with a few other girls as well. My best friend, Emily Roper, I think I saw her twice. I did make a special trip to Pasadena to see my sister in the hospital, just to say hi. It was really cool to see her.”
In another video, Katie describes an interaction
