The mother of Sandor Szabo, the man killed with one punch by a Wake Forest University basketball coach, has filed a lawsuit against the school.
The mother, Donna Kent, is suing the university for wrongful death, intentional infliction of emotional distress, assault, and battery for the âwillful misconductâ of Coach Jamill Jones.
In early August 2018, Szabo, a 35-year old marketing executive was in New York to attend his stepsisterâs wedding. Jamill Jones, assistant coach of the Wake Forest Mens Basketball team, was in New York on Wake Forest business. On the morning of August 5, their paths would cross, with fatal consequences for Sandor.
âAfter leaving his stepsisterâs wedding reception, Sandor approached Jonesâ white BMW, mistaking it for the Lyft he had recently ordered. Sandor realized Jones was not his Lyft driver and began walking away. Jones stopped his BMW in the middle of the street, jumped out, and ran after Sandor. Then, without any hesitation, the 6 foot 5 inch, 220 pound former college athlete punched Sandor in the face with full force,â Kentâs attorney John Pierce told the Gateway Pundit.
Surveillance footage showed Szabo appearing to try to flag down Jones, thinking he was the Lyft driver.
âOn direct examination, Jones had admitted chasing Szabo and punching him in the face near the opposite corner of the street, even as Szabo appeared to be backing up,â PIX 11 reports.
âIt was immediately clear that Jones put everything he had into that punch: it caused extreme damage to Sandorâs brain stem, knocked his teeth through his lower lip, and caused severe lacerations to left side of his face. The punch was so forceful that it knocked Sandor clean off of his feet and caused his head to bounce against the concrete curb, fracturing his skull in two places and causing further brain damage,â Pierce continued. âJones stood over the now-unconscious Sandor and watched as he choked on the blood pouring out of his damaged lip.â
Jones then walked back to his BMW, leaving Sandor for dead on the sidewalk.
âThe same day Jones fled back to North Carolina, again to attend to Wake Forest business. Sandor never woke up, and was pronounced braindead on August 7, 2018,â Pierce told Gateway. âSandorâs heart, kidneys, pancreas, liver, and lungs saved the lives of four recipients.â
Despite Sandorâs blood on his hands, Jones was only charged and convicted of a misdemeanor: Three years of probation, 1,500 hours of community service, and a $1,000 fine were the full extent of his punishment.
âLast year, Sandorâs mother Donna Kent, on behalf of her late sonâs estate, brought a wrongful death action against Jonesâshe hopes to get some measure of justice for Sandor through the civil courts. However, Jonesâ employer, Wake Forest, also bears responsibility: but for Wake Forest sending Jones to New York, Sandor would still be alive today,â Pierce explained. âIt is Ms. Kentâs belief that Jones has prior acts of violence in his past, that Wake Forest either knew or had reason to know of such acts. Therefore, Ms. Kent has filed suit against the university to hold it accountable for its role in her sonâs untimely demise.â
Kent is seeking compensatory, statutory, and non-economic damages, as well as punitive damages sufficient to punish Wake Forest University.
Kentâs lawyer, John Pierce of Pierce Bainbridge and the National Constitutional Law Union Inc. (NCLU), is currently representing a number of January 6 protesters, Tonia Haddix who is taking on PETA, the family of Jake Gardner, a Marine combat veteran who tragically took his own life after being wrongfully charged following a self-defense shooting during a Black Lives Matter riot, former Donald Trump campaign aide Carter Page, as well as Amanda Ensing, a Latina beauty influencer who was defamed and âcancelledâ by Sephora for conservative social media posts.
Those who wish to help Kent with legal costs can donate through the NCLU here.
Content created by Cassandra Fairbanks
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