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It was a case of disastrous timing: Just as a New Times cover story exposing rampant violence at Florida Memorial University was hitting newsstands, there was a reported stabbing at a frat party on the Miami Gardens campus.
Now alleged victim Evell Hampton has become the latest student to sue the school for not keeping its campus safe.
According to the complaint, Hampton attended the party in the campus gymnasium on the night of December 4, 2009. When he left towards the Robertson Dormitory, a “group of men, some of whom were non-students” followed Hampton and “viciously beat and stabbed” him.
In January, Hampton filed suit against FMU and Allied Barton Security Services, claiming “negligent security.”
As detailed in that 2009 feature, this isn’t the first time FMU has faced such a suit. A female student sued after a stalker — and former Florida Memorial security guard — walked onto campus on a morning in 2002 and stomped her teeth out. That lawsuit was settled. And on a night in November 2008, a violent, baseball bat-wielding mob descended on a car carrying the family of a student, leaving one victim shot in the shoulder. The family sued, in a case that’s still in trial.
New Times’ investigation revealed a pattern of university administrators sweeping campus violence and scandal under the rug. After a protracted search, FMU finally named a new president — Henry Lewis III — in November.
Hampton’s attorney, Philip Gold, declined comment until first speaking with his client. FMU has not responded to Riptide’s inquiries about the stabbing or the lawsuit.
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