A lawyer for the estate of a UConn student who was assaulted during Spring Weekend and died will be suing the school.
Attorney Donald Altschuler said UConn failed to protect Jafar Karzoun during Spring Weekend in April 2010.
Karzoun, a junior from Milford, was punched in the face outside a restaurant on the first night of UConn's annual spring celebration. He died of his injuries a few days later. Edi Rapo, who was not a UConn student, was charged with Karzoun's death.
Altschuler sent a letter to UConn notifying the school that he intends to file a wrongful death lawsuit with the Claims Commission within the next two months.
In the letter, Altschuler claims that the UConn sanctioned Spring Weekend and should have known police wouldn't be able to handle the large number of participants, according to the Hartford Courant. Altschuler also claims police failed to protect Karzoun because Rapo had been involved in criminal conduct before the assault, but was not arrested or removed from campus, the paper reported.
UConn formed a task force after Karzoun's death to address the violence and danger associated with Spring Weekend. "The gatherings associated with Spring Weekend are in no way sponsored, supported or condoned by the university," UConn spokesperson Michael Kirk said Monday. "UConn has worked for many years to discourage these unwanted events and continues to do so now."
Kirk said the university would not comment on the possible litigation.
