Jury awards family $5M, says RI football coach's actions caused son's suicide

The family of a teenager who died by suicide was awarded $5.4 million this week after a Rhode Island jury found his football coach and several school administrators were negligent in the way they responded before the 15-year-old’s death.

Nathan Bruno killed himself in 2018 after his family alleges Portsmouth High School’s then-football coach Ryan Moniz pressured the boy to reveal the names of other students involved in sending harassing text messages and phone calls to the coach. The family also alleges Moniz had football players pressure Bruno to provide the names.

The jury’s decision Wednesday said Moniz was both negligent and that his actions caused Bruno’s suicide — meaning he alone was responsible for the jury award, which would be paid out by the school district. The boy’s father, Richard Bruno, declined to comment Friday on the jury’s decision. Moniz did not immediately respond to a message sent to his school email.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or chat live at 988lifeline.org. You can also visit SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for additional support.

It’s not the first time a school district has been ordered to pay after a student takes their own life. A Utah school district in 2023 agreed to pay $2 million to the family of a Black, autistic 10-year-old girl who killed herself after being harassed by her classmates.

Bruno’s suicide led to the School Committee to remove Moriz as football coach, although he is still listed on the district’s website as a teacher. Rhode Island’s legislature passed a law in 2021 named in honor of Bruno that requires all public school districts to adopt suicide prevention policies and train school personnel in suicide awareness and prevention.

The lawsuit filed by Bruno’s family alleges the coach, the town of Portsmouth and several school administrators “breached their duties” to Bruno which “placed mental and emotional stress upon” him in the weeks before his death. They say the defendants failed to tell Bruno’s parents about a police investigation involving him, reassigned him to another physical education class without telling his parents, allowed Moriz to pressure him and failed to meet with the student, who had offered to apologize for making the calls.

Jamestown Detective Derek Carlino, who investigated the case after Moniz filed a complaint, was also accused of sharing confidential police information about Bruno with Moniz. The jury found a former principal and assistant principal at Portsmouth High School as well as Carlino negligent.

“It was just an utter failure, pressuring a boy,” Peter Cerilli, who represented the parents with John Foley, told The Providence Journal. “There was basically bullying by the coach.”

“We have tremendous respect for Judge Licht and the jury system,” Marc DeSisto, who represented the town, told The Associated Press on Friday. “There are fundamental legal issues still pending in the Superior Court and potentially the Rhode Island Supreme Court impacting the determination of whether someone should be held responsible for the suicide of another.”

Melody Alger, who represented Carlino and Jamestown, said her clients were “grateful” not to be found liable for Bruno’s death.

“While Detective Carlino and the Town of Jamestown were disappointed with the finding of negligence, my clients are pleased to have prevailed and grateful that the jury agreed that the Jamestown defendants did not cause Nathan Bruno’s tragic death,” she said in a statement.

The jury awarded the family $3.1 million which, with interest since the boy’s death, would increase to $5.4 million.