Harrison Brown was fatally stabbed two years ago in broad daylight outside of Gregory Gym by former biology junior Kendrex White, who was found not guilty of the murder by reason of insanity.
Now, Harrison’s mother, Lori Brown, is suing White, his parents and his health care providers for more than $1 million in a lawsuit filed May 1.
Lori named 10 defendants in the lawsuit, including Metroplex Adventist Hospital, Ascension Seton and four doctors who treated White in the months before his on-campus attack.
Lori argues the defendants knew or should have known White’s mental illness, schizoaffective disorder, could cause him to potentially harm himself or others if he was left unmonitored. The lawsuit states red flags White was displaying in the months before Harrison’s death, which include telling people he was Jesus Christ, believing people were trying to kill him and that the world was not real, having hallucinations and hearing voices.
Lori claims the defendants were negligent and did not take preventative measures toward White’s illness, therefore causing White to suffer a mental breakdown, lose control of his actions and attack students on campus.
The lawsuit describes the state of White’s mental illness in the months leading up to the May 1 stabbings. It first describes White’s car wreck near campus April 4, for which he was charged with driving while intoxicated. However, according to the lawsuit, White was not intoxicated but “acting strangely” because of his mental illness.
White’s mother, Shantina, picked him up from jail and drove him home to Killeen, where his parents admitted him to Metroplex Hospital two days later because of his erratic behavior, according to the lawsuit. Three doctors diagnosed him with psychosis and medicated him with antipsychotic and mood-stabilizing drugs, but the lawsuit claims he was not given adequate doses of a certain antipsychotic drug.
White was released from the hospital April 14, and his parents took him back to Austin two days later, which the lawsuit claims was negligent by all parties because he still behaved dangerously.
His mother became worried he was suicidal shortly before the campus stabbings because of text messages she received from him. She called a police officer to check on White, who took him to Brackenridge Hospital, now known as Ascension Seton. The lawsuit claims doctors there did not properly care for him and released him at 3 a.m. Days later, he killed Harrison and injured three other students on campus.
Lori also subpoenaed the Travis County District Attorney and two psychiatrists who determined White to be insane at the time of the attack for any incident reports, medical records and communications relating to White.
Lori’s lawyers did not immediately respond to request for comment.