Slain student’s kin sue UA, regents, state in dorm death
by Arthur H. Rotstein on Sep. 06, 2008, under Education, Local, SpecialMia Henderson stabbed to death a year ago
Henderson
The parents of a University of Arizona student fatally stabbed in her dormitory room have sued the university, the Arizona Board of Regents and the state. Mia Henderson was stabbed nearly two dozen times a year ago Friday as she lay in bed.
Galareka Harrison, her freshman roommate, is charged with first-degree murder, identity theft and forgery, and jury selection in her Pima County Superior Court trial is under way. She has pleaded not guilty.
Both Navajo Nation tribal members were enrolled in a program designed to assist Native American students, living in a dormitory room as part of the Native American First-Year Scholars program.
They hailed from communities about 95 miles apart on the vast reservation, which sprawls across the northeastern corner of Arizona – Henderson from Tuba City northeast of Flagstaff, Henderson from Chinle, near the New Mexico border.
The two did not know each other before school started.
The wrongful death lawsuit alleges that the university failed to step in and separate the roommates before the attack after Henderson had filed complaints against Harrison.
It seeks funeral expenses, general compensatory damages, costs incurred and “other relief as the court may deem appropriate.”
Henderson accused her roommate of theft and forgery, telling university police she had seen her Social Security card and a university-issued debit card sticking out of Harrison’s wallet and that a $500 check that Henderson did not authorize had been cashed.
According to the lawsuit, Henderson reported the crimes to the police on Aug. 28, 2007, and to the dean of students, the dormitory housing administration and the scholars program in the following days.
Court records showed that Harrison confessed during police questioning to theft, forgery and identity theft against Henderson and another student early on Aug. 29.
Henderson asked the university to move Harrison from the dorm room “on or about Aug. 29 and 30,” the lawsuit said. It added that Harrison received written notice Sept. 4 from the dean of students about the misconduct complaint that Henderson had filed.
The lawsuit said an act of retribution against Henderson “was reasonably foreseeable, and reasonable care required simple precautions for Mia’s protection.”
Alternative housing was available on campus, but the university “refused to relocate Galareka” to another dorm, refused to move her from the dorm room shared with Henderson, did not tell Harrison to remove her personal belongings from the dorm room and did not take away her key to the room, the complaint filed in Maricopa County Superior Court said.
“The university failed to exercise reasonable care to protect Mia Henderson from foreseeable risk of harm, including harm from criminal conduct,” the lawsuit said. “. . . the negligence of the university was a cause of the death of Mia Henderson.”
University spokesman Johnny Cruz said he could not comment on pending or potential litigation.
Harrison
