WA family files $50M claim against schools, police over campus murder
Family of murdered Yakima mom seeking $50 million
The family of a paraeducator and mother of two, who was killed earlier this year, will be taking police and school officials to court.
YAKIMA, Wash. - The family of a paraeducator and mother of two, who was killed earlier this year, will be taking police and school officials to court.
Amber Rodriguez was shot and killed in a West Richland school parking lot by her ex-husband in April 2024.
Who is Elias Huizar? Former Yakima cop accused of child rape, killing 2 women and abducting child
A suspect accused of killing his ex-wife and girlfriend and then fleeing the state with his 1-year-old child has died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after a high-speed chase with Oregon State Police.
An attorney for Rodriguez's family, including her young sons, says the claim is seeking $50 million in damages.
He says it serves as a warning to other districts and police departments in Washington and across the country that if there is known danger, and officials fail to protect victims, they could be held accountable for those failures.
"Amber will never see her children graduate, she will never see another birthday. She will never see another wedding," said Bill Pickett, trial attorney from Yakima. "All of those things were taken wrongfully from her. That doesn’t even take into account the harm to these young boys who have essentially had the sacred ripped from their life with the death of their mother."
The claim states, "On April 22nd, 2024, Elias Huizar entered a rear entrance gravel parking lot at William Wiley Elementary School in West Richland, Washington at 3:06 pm stood near his ex-wife Amber Rodriguez’s car. Amber was 31 years old at the time. Approximately 13 minutes passed after Huizar’s arrival at the school. Huizar was allowed to remain on the school property, despite having been trespassed from the premises because of pending criminal allegations of rape against two minor children."
"At 3:19 pm Amber exited a school building to leave the Elementary School with her 9-year-old son, who was also a student at William Wiley. As Amber entered a gravel parking lot, Huizar approached her and their son. He was armed with a handgun. Amber saw Huizar and screamed for help, trying to get away from him. Amber also screamed at her son to run.
"Within approximately twenty seconds of seeing Amber and their son, Huizar shot Amber once in the arm and three times in the back. Huizar then fired three times into Amber’s head as her terrorized 9-year-old son witnessed the entire scene. Amber died at the scene while Huizar cowardly fled from the area."
Family, friends remember ex-wife and teen mother killed by Elias Huizar in West Richland
We're learning more about the two people who were killed after police say Elias Huizar, an ex-cop living in West Richland, went on a murderous crime spree and kidnapped his own son.
The claim goes on to say that police then searched Huizar's rental home in West Richland and found the body of his 17-year-old girlfriend, who was the mother of his one-year-old son. They also found a manifesto that read;
"Let Police Officers get Help for PTSD! Stop the system of a Mother State for Divorce I lived for my children! Jelly’s vehicle is parked at the apartment complex behind Grocery Outlet. I Elias Huizar give all my possessions to my mother…"
The claim went on to say that, "Huizar’s actions leading up to and culminating with the murder of Amber were entirely foreseeable to anyone paying even a modicum of attention to his progressively deteriorating mental state and escalating aggressive behavior."
"You know you have got a dangerous person, you trespassed them from your school, then do your job and ensure they don’t come on and linger around in your parking lot and have the ability to take out a gun and chase a mom down and to shoot her," said Pickett.
Pickett says the Richland School District and Yakima School District are both listed in the claim.
"There was a meltdown and failure on the part of not only the school district, but law enforcement in this case," said Pickett.
Pickett says the West Richland Police Department and the Yakima Police Department are also at fault.
The claim states that Yakima Police,"failed to properly investigate Huizar’s background" before hiring him. The document says his history included "violent criminal behavior at Dickinson State University."
It also states "his tenure with YPD included various disciplinary actions and investigations into alleged misconduct with a minor child whom Huizar would later impregnate and have a child with."
Attorneys say Huizar eventually resigned and claimed a "hostile work environment."
The claim notice goes on to state that, "YPD failed to collect City of Yakima-issued weapons, ammunition and tactical gear that had been assigned to Huizar during his time as a YPD officer."
"The failure of YPD to collect government issued gear from Huizar after his resignation, and the failure of WRPD to follow up with YPD about the police equipment gear found in Huizar’s home after his arrest for rape directly contributed to Huizar’s use of YPD issued weapons and ammunition to kill Amber Rodriguez."
An online fundraiser was created for the family last spring.
"The minors are being loved and taken care of by Amber’s family and doing the very best they can to bring them some healing and some restoration," said Pickett. "We put an amount in there for each of those claims is $50 million. I can tell you that I don’t think there is any amount of compensation that would compensate for the massive harm that’s been caused here, to not only to Amber and the loss of her life, but to her two children."
The Yakima School District issued a statement confirming it had received the claim and had sent it for review:
"Per Robert Noe, the Chief Legal Council for YSD, the Yakima School District has received a tort claim, which has been forwarded to our insurer for review and processing. This is a preliminary step in a legal process and not a lawsuit, and we will defer to the insurer’s findings as part of standard procedures.
"The claim is directed at the district as an entity and does not allege individual liability for any employee. The Yakima Police Department employed Mr. Huizar, and any questions regarding his employment history should be directed to that agency."
The Richland School District also issued a brief statement through Public Information Officer Shawna Dinh:
"It is the Richland School District’s policy to not provide any comment regarding ongoing or pending claims or litigation matters. The District has no comment at this time."
YPD and WRPD have not responded yet to FOX 13's request for comment.
Top 25 search queries of 2024
A lookback at the top 25 search queries that brought people to FOX 13 Seattle's website in 2024.
MORE NEWS FROM FOX 13
Everett middle schooler says classmate made and traded AI porn of her
Here is the salary needed for a family of 4 in WA
Holiday travel rush in full swing, 172k people expected to pass through SEA Airport
Who is Shon Barnes? Seattle's new chief of police
Suspected ATM card skimmers caught on camera in Kitsap County
Seattle police ID suspect in deadly Metro bus driver stabbing
House OKs funding bill, sends to Senate hours before government shutdown deadline
To get the best local news, weather and sports in Seattle for free, sign up for the daily Fox Seattle Newsletter.
Download the free FOX Seattle FOX LOCAL app for mobile in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store for live Seattle news, top stories, weather updates and more local and national coverage, plus 24/7 streaming coverage from across the nation.