St. Paul Settles With Last Student In Landslide

ST. PAUL, Minn. (WCCO/AP) -- St. Paul has agreed to pay $20,000 to a fourth-grade student injured in a landslide that killed two of his classmates in a city park last year.

The incident happened on a class fieldtrip to the city's Lilydale Regional Park in May 2013. Ten-year-old Mohamed Fofana and 9-year-old Haysem Sani died in the landslide.

Lucas Lee is the fourth and final student from Peter Hobart Elementary School in St. Louis Park who was involved in the May 2013 landslide at Lilydale Regional Park. He broke his ankle.

The city agreed to the settlement for physical and mental injury Lee suffered, but admitted to no fault. Lee was 10 years old at the time.

The attorney for Lee's family says the money is for psychotherapy rather than injury, and that the settlement was reached without filing a lawsuit after about a month of negotiations. The city council and a Hennepin County judge still must approve the settlement.

The city agreed to pay $1 million to the families of the other three children in March -- $400,000 each for the families of the two killed and another $200,000 for the other injured victim, 10-year-old Devin Meldahl.

It was the largest legal settlement in the city's history.

Two investigations showed city officials knew erosion had been a problem at the park in the past and that landslides had occurred on the bluffs before, but they saw this as an environmental issue and not a safety one. They also said they didn't realize the park's fossil grounds were at risk.

Ultimately the accident was deemed an act of nature, not the city's fault.

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