Attorney asks for probe of girl's death

HITCHCOCK — The death of a 13-year-old basketball player earlier this month might have been prevented if her school had medical equipment in place and called for an ambulance sooner, a letter from the family’s attorney to the Hitchcock board of trustees and superintendent says.

Attorney Tony Buzbee sent the letter questioning what happened Jan. 14, the night Kailynn Boclair collapsed on the court and later died.

“It could be that they did everything right, and I hope that’s the case,” he said.

Boclair’s family hired Buzbee to investigate the death. In the letter, he said the automated external defibrillator the school district owned was locked in another room and emergency medical services weren’t immediately called.

Hitchcock Superintendent Michael Bergman said he would work to get answers to the family’s concerns.

“We will have answers to all of the questions,” he said. “Part of it is just a confirmation of what we already may know.”

Bergman confirmed Buzbee’s statement that the defibrillator used on Boclair was from the opposing team. He said Hitchcock “had access” to another machine in another room but didn’t say if that room was locked.

A state law passed last year requires home teams to have a defibrillator on the court, Buzbee said.

“Cases like this one happen quite often,” he said. “She couldn’t have been screened for it, it’s something that happens. That’s the reason this law exists.”

Buzbee said Boclair’s mother screamed for someone to call 911, but said he’s unsure who did and when.

“The EMS facility is literally a football field away,” he said. “I was told that people were standing around, asking ‘Where in the devil is EMS?’”

Buzbee claimed a doctor told Boclair’s family her life could have been saved if the defibrillator had been used immediately and if she had been transported to the hospital immediately.

An autopsy found that Boclair died of abnormal congenital coronary artery disease.

Buzbee’s letter also questions whether coaches were trained to use the machine, something school board President Monica Cantrell said she looked into after the death.

“All of our coaches are trained,” she said. “I personally checked to make sure.”

Buzbee said there’s no lawsuit planned right now.

“This is a way for the family to get an answer to their questions,” Buzbee said. “This isn’t a case of ‘We lost a love one and were looking for someone to blame.’ It’s not that at all.”

Cantrell said she hopes the school district can answer the family’s questions.

“We make every effort we can to make everything safe for our students,” she said. “I’m sure (the district) had at least met the minimum requirements. I hope it did more than that.”