Boy Finished His Freshman Year Then Died When He Was Pinned Between Cars in Parking Lot. Now His Parents Are Suing

A California couple has filed a lawsuit against a prestigious K–12 private school, alleging that long-standing safety failures in the school’s parking lot led to the death of their 15-year-old son.

On Tuesday, Dec. 30, an attorney for Adam Silverman and Louise Bonnet filed a complaint against Campbell Hall, an Episcopal school in Studio City. The lawsuit claims the school failed to address known safety hazards in its parking lot despite repeated concerns raised by parents, only making changes after the fatal incident that killed their son, Cosmo Silverman, on June 4.

According to the complaint, the parking area was dangerously designed and operated, forcing students to walk through moving vehicle traffic without clearly marked pedestrian pathways. It also alleges that the staff member typically responsible for directing traffic was not present at the time of the incident.

“Had the school acted on numerous prior complaints it received about the dangerous design and operation of its Triangle Parking Lot, Cosmo would still be alive today,” the complaint states.

Cosmo was struck just minutes after finishing his freshman year of high school, the lawsuit says. Authorities reported that the incident occurred shortly after 3 p.m. as school was letting out.

A driver in a green Rivian SUV reportedly hit the teenager as he walked between cars near the rear of the campus. The collision pinned him between two SUVs, according to earlier reports.

Cosmo, described as “gravely injured,” was transported to a local hospital along with his father, who was not injured. He later died from traumatic injuries, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner.

Five additional people reported non-life-threatening injuries, including another teenage boy, an unidentified minor, and three adults, according to fire officials.

The lawsuit argues that the tragedy followed repeated warnings from parents who had expressed concerns about the safety of the pickup and drop-off area. Attorney Robert Glassman, who represents the family, said the school had been alerted to the risks well before the incident.

“The school was put on notice by its community, by parents of the school that the parking lot was unsafe,” Glassman told the Los Angeles Times. “They knew there was a problem.”

Only after Cosmo’s death, the complaint alleges, did the school implement basic safety measures that should have been in place long before.

Glassman said the family decided to pursue legal action after efforts to resolve the matter privately failed. “The lawsuit wasn’t filed out of anger, but out of necessity,” he told the Los Angeles Times.

In a separate statement, Glassman said Cosmo’s parents tried for months to engage in good-faith discussions so they could grieve privately, but claimed the school’s insurance carrier refused to meaningfully negotiate or accept responsibility.

“This case is about making the school accountable for the significant role its dangerously designed parking lot played in Cosmo’s death and ensuring that no other family has to endure the same preventable tragedy,” he said.

Campbell Hall and the Los Angeles Police Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

For Cosmo’s parents, the loss remains overwhelming. The complaint describes their son as their pride and purpose, stating that his death shattered the life they had built around him.

“What remains is a lifetime of loss and an ache that words cannot soften,” the filing reads, “and the cruel knowledge that the world will move on, but they never will.”