The stabbing death of 17-year-old Emery Lynn Mizell could have been prevented if the city had better supervised the foster child accused of stabbing her — and if Instagram had stepped in to stop the online bully who was tormenting her, the victim’s father says in a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit.
“This is a parent’s worst nightmare and I don’t want anyone else to go through something like this. I feel like it could have been prevented. The back and forth on social media there is no words for it,” said Tony Mizell, whose daughter was fatally stabbed in the Bronx as she walked home from school two years ago.
“She was calling my daughter names on social media and was making threats that she was going to stab my daughter when she sees her.”
The accused killer, a 15-year-old girl in the custody of the city’s child welfare agency, made good on her word, plunging a knife in the victim’s chest during a broad-daylight attack after months of a relentless online bullying campaign, according to the lawsuit filed by Mizell against the city and Meta, Instagram’s parent company.
The suspect, identified in court papers only as RH, was arrested and charged with manslaughter and unlawful possession of a weapon.
Mizell’s lawsuit claims the city’s Administration for Children’s Services should have known about the younger girl’s violent propensities and a history of aggressive behavior, and that Meta put the victim in danger with its addictive algorithm and with the bullying that takes place on its social media platforms.
“They could put more warnings in place so the parents are aware that this sort of bullying is occurring on the apps,” said one of Mizell’s lawyers, Mark David Shirian. “Same with any sort of other dangerous product that you wouldn’t want children to use. Just more of a warning that this is happening on the apps so the parents could make a decision on if they want their children to use this dangerous product.”
The lawsuit in Manhattan Federal Court comes weeks after a California jury found Meta and YouTube liable for a young woman’s social media addiction and awarded $6 million in compensatory and punitive damages.
“This case is about accountability, holding the defendants, particularly Meta, accountable so this does not happen to other children in this city, state, and country,” said Sanford Rubenstein, who also is representing the Mizell family. “What this father hopes is that this lawsuit will prevent other deaths by calling attention to it.”
Emery was just weeks away from graduating from Metropolitan Soundview High School and had dreams of becoming a nurse.
“There is so much stuff I would want to talk to her about,” he said. “ I wish she would have told me more about it when it was happening, how long this was going on and how it made her feel.”
The dad said his daughter and the suspect had only met via social media. The lawsuit said the alleged killer lived in the building where Emery was stabbed, and waited for her to walk by.
An ACS spokeswoman said the lawsuit is being reviewed.
“ACS is committed to providing the highest quality care and support to children and youth in our care,” the spokeswoman said in a statement.
A Meta representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
