Parents of 10-year-old boy sue school for wrongful death

By Jessica Gruenling

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    GREENFIELD, Indiana (WRTV) — The parents of Sammy Teusch, a 10-year-old who was found dead by suicide on May 5, 2024 in Greenfield, filed a wrongful death suit in Hancock County Circuit Court on Tuesday.

The suit charges the Greenfield-Central Community School Corporation and Greenfield-Central Community School Corporation Board of Trustees, citing Superintendent Dr. Harold Olin by name, among others.

According to Sam and Nicole Teusch, the school failed to protect their son, who they say suffered from severe bullying at school.

“Sammy’s abusers urged him to hang himself; they chased him, stalked him, punched him, choked him – all while school officials for months callously dismissed and disregarded Sammy’s pleas for protection,” said Brian Grossman, co-counsel for the Teusch family. “This suit is about more than holding the Greenfield School Corporation accountable, it’s about making sure no child ever experiences what Sammy experienced – and no family again experiences the heartbreak the Teusch family can now never escape.”

The filing describes months of abuse from Sammy’s classmates. It alleges instances such as Sammy being choked until he “saw stars”, and another of him being hit on the head with an iPad, which broke his glasses and left him with a black eye. In one instance, the lawsuit alleges a group of students trapped him in a bathroom and threatened him, with one student telling him to kill himself.

The Teusche’s said they reached out to the school by phone and in person to report the bullying. They made approximately twenty reports to teachers, the principal and school counselors, the lawsuit says.

Sammy moved to Greenfield in November 2022 after living in Florida and Wisconsin. His family said he had no problems at his former schools.

“Sammy was smart, funny, quick to make friends, knew no strangers, meant no harm to anyone, and had the biggest heart along with the best smile,” said Sam Teusch. “And it seems that made him an easy target and easy for school officials to dismiss and disregard him – and we can’t let the world be like that.”

The Teusches said after Sammy’s death, the Greenfield community has been mostly supportive. WRTV previously reported how shortly after his death,members of the Greenfield community rallied to raise awareness about bullying and call for change.

The Teusches said the legal action comes from a place of love and protection.

“[Kids] should all be able to go to school and learn in a safe environment,” said Sam Teusch. “No parent should have to sit at work and worry if their child is being bullied – or as in Sammy’s case, abused and assaulted – while they are in school all day. And no parent should ever have to find their child like Nicci and I did.”

WRTV reached out to Greenfield-Central Community School Corporation for comment and was told to refer to their previous statement, below:

“The loss of a child to suicide is deflating to any community, and Greenfield was clearly in shock for a few weeks as we closed last school year. Members of the school corporation and the larger community grieved with the Teusch family, and we will continue to extend them support and grace in the aftermath of the event. Since that terrible day (May 5th), we have reviewed our records with great scrutiny and interviewed many people close to the situation. To this day, we have found nothing to validate the allegation you referenced. We believe an objective review of the records would reach the same conclusion. In Greenfield-Central we do want to ensure that we are doing all we can do to support our students, regardless of the needs they have when they walk through our doors. We will always maintain that commitment to our students and families.” Greenfield-Central Superintendent

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