The parents are represented by attorneys Benjamin Crump, Jasmine Rand, and local counsel Lynn Sherrod.
NEWS RELEASE
Huntsville, AL. –– Nationally renowned civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump, co-counsel Jasmine Rand, and local counsel Lynn Sherrod, and David J. Johns, Executive Director of the National Black Justice Coalition, will hold a virtual news conference on April 13, 2021, at 10 a.m. CT with the family of Nigel Shelby. Attorneys and Camika Shelby and Patrick Cruz, Nigel’s parents, will be announcing the filing of a lawsuit against the City of Huntsville Board of Education for the violation of Nigel’s civil rights and his wrongful death in 2019. Fourteen-year old Nigel Shelby was bullied by his peers for his race and sexual orientation, and when he sought help from school administrators, was told that his sexuality was his choice.
School administrators did not alert Nigel’s parents of his struggles in school so that he could receive help from a licensed mental health professional. On April 18, 2019, Nigel Shelby died by suicide. Following his death, school administrators alerted Nigel’s mother to look for a suicide note in his backpack, revealing that they were aware of his plans to take his own life. Nigel’s death influenced a national conversation about bullying and elevated the need for acceptance relating to race and sexuality among adolescents. As the nation’s only civil rights organization working at the intersections of racial equity and LGBTQ+ equality, NBJC stands with the family of Nigel Shelby and in support of Black LGBTQ+ students everywhere.