Content warning: This article mentions the death of a Brandeis community member. Reader discretion is advised.

On Oct. 31 at 10:32 a.m., a “wrongful death lawsuit” concerning “Eli T. Stuart, a 20-year-old student who died in December 2023” was filed in the Superior Court in Middlesex County. This lawsuit named Brandeis University, former Brandeis Police Officer Kimberly Carter, Brandeis Police Officer Thomas Espada and Brandeis Police Lieutenant Detective Dana Kelley as defendants. Stuart’s family, as administrators of their estate, are named as the plantiffs.

The lawsuit alleges that Brandeis University police officers “failed to urgently respond to calls for help,” also stating that “former Brandeis Police Officer Kimberly Carter, and Brandeis Police Officer Thomas Espada ‘were grossly negligent’ in failing to respond to a phone call from a professor, who was exiting a building on campus and saw Stuart … ‘in obvious need of help.’” The plaintiffs’ lawyer, Howard M. Cooper of Todd & Welp LLP, added that “the lawsuit alleges that … Brandeis University and its police officers failed to act despite clear and unambiguous warnings that Eli was in trouble. Eli should still be with their family.”

Editor’s Note: This lawsuit was filed on the day that The Hoot was producing the edition that contains this article. This is a developing story, and more comprehensive coverage will be available in upcoming editions. We encourage interested community members to seek out more information as it becomes available online. Given that this story broke so close to publication, The Hoot was unable to reach Brandeis’ administration for a comment.