LOS ANGELES (WKRC) — A juvenile has been arrested in connection with the death of a 12-year-old girl following an alleged attack at school involving a metal water bottle.
Khimberly Zavaleta Chuquipa died Feb. 25 after undergoing brain surgery, more than a week after the incident. Her family said she was trying to protect her sister from bullying when another student allegedly hit her in the head.
The Los Angeles Police Department confirmed to CBS News on Thursday that a juvenile was arrested on suspicion of murder.
“This arrest is an important step toward accountability, but an arrest alone does not equal justice and does not answer the larger question of how this was allowed to happen in the first place,” attorney Robert Glassman said to PEOPLE. “The focus cannot stop with one student—there must be a hard look at what the adults in charge knew, when they knew it, and why meaningful action wasn’t taken sooner.”
The family filed a lawsuit in March against the Los Angeles Unified School District, alleging it failed to address prior bullying involving the girl’s sister, per CBS News.
“On the afternoon of Feb. 17, Khimberly was trying to protect her sister. She stepped in when the school didn’t,” Glassman said in a news conference in March, per NBC 4 Los Angeles. “This tragedy really highlights and underscores the very real and very devastating consequences of unchecked bullying.”
