Virginia Tech Wrongful Death Trial Set for September | Shapiro, Washburn & Sharp

Two families who lost loved ones in the April 2007 Virginia Tech shootings are still struggling forward with their Virginia (VA) wrongful death lawsuits. Most recently the judge in the case has overruled a motion made by the defense to separate the current trial into two separate trials with two separate defendants.

In the wrongful death case, the parents of Erin Peterson and Julia Pryde have argued that both the administration at Virginia Tech and Virginia Tech counseling staffers were negligent and that the actions of both led to the fatal shooting. The administration failed to warn the campus that a shooting had taken place in the dorms earlier in the day, while the counseling service failed to properly handle the shooter, Seung-Hui Cho, when he suffered from mental issues before the shooting.

During the shooting, the student killed 31 people on the Virginia campus and then himself. The wrongful death trial will take place in Franklin County in September.