The mother of an 8-year-old boy has filed a federal lawsuit claiming her son - a student with special needs - choked on a piece of pineapple in the cafeteria at Bass Elementary in Las Vegas on Feb. 25, 2025 and never recovered. According to the complaint, the child was declared brain dead and died on March 2, 2025 after school staff allegedly failed to provide life-saving aid.
What the complaint alleges
As reported by the Daily Mail, the suit was filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada by attorney Amanda Corbala and names special-education aide Teresa Holve along with the Clark County School District. The complaint claims Holve directed the boy out of the cafeteria instead of performing CPR and alleges she "acted with deliberate indifference" to his need for help. Surveillance images attached to the filing reportedly show the child gesturing for help and patting his back while a school employee points him toward the exit.
Timeline and school details
The complaint places the choking incident inside the cafeteria at Bass Elementary on Feb. 25, 2025. Bass Elementary is part of the Clark County School District and is listed at 10377 Rancho Destino Road in southeast Las Vegas in the district's directory. The family says emergency medical technicians later removed a chunk of pineapple from the boy's airway with their fingers and that hospital staff diagnosed him with an anoxic brain injury. The suit alleges first responders arrived roughly 15 minutes after the aide directed the child out of the cafeteria.
Legal case and possible exposure
According to the Daily Mail, the complaint accuses the district of placing the child in a "position of particularized danger," failing to properly train the aide, and committing abuse or neglect of a vulnerable person. The suit seeks damages and asks the court to hold both the district and Holve accountable for what the mother calls a preventable death. Those allegations will be weighed in federal court as the case moves forward.
Why training and quick intervention matter
First-aid guidance emphasizes that fast, appropriate action during a choking emergency - including back blows and abdominal thrusts for someone who is still conscious, along with careful removal of visible obstructions when it is safe to do so - can be the difference between life and death. The American Heart Association recommends that visible airway blockages be removed by hand and that CPR and automated external defibrillators be used when a person has no pulse or is not breathing, which makes staff training and readiness critical in school settings. The complaint specifically alleges the aide knew CPR but did not perform it, a key point that will be examined in court.
At this stage, the family's complaint, the surveillance images referenced in the filing, and the district directory listing for Bass Elementary are the primary public records available. The case is set to play out in U.S. District Court and could bring renewed scrutiny to how aides who work with medically vulnerable students are trained and supervised.
