Washington student at ‘world class’ Utah boarding school dies after complaints ignored, lawyer says

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    UTAH (KPTV) — A 17-year-old student at a “therapeutic boarding school” in Utah died of sepsis after school employees ignored her health issues, according to recent autopsy results and a lawsuit filed on behalf of the dead girl and her family.

Taylor Goodridge died in December 2022 at Diamond Ranch Academy in Utah from peritonitis, an infection of abdominal tissue, followed by sepsis, which caused her organs to fail. She was a Stillaguamish tribe member who lived in Arlington, Washington.

“It’s something that’s easily treated with antibiotics, especially with a healthy 17-year-old,” attorney Alan W. Mortensen of Mortensen and Miline told Fox News Digital. “The first signs of peritonitis are vomiting and stomach cramps, both of which Taylor had for… at least two-and-a-half weeks before she died. She was never taken to the hospital. Her complaints were ignored, and she was punished for making the complaints.”

According to Mortensen, citing autopsy reports from the Utah Medical Examiner, the virus eventually spread to her heart, liver, kidney, and pancreas.

Goodridge was allowed to call her parents once a week at the school that touts itself as a “world-class residential treatment center and therapeutic boarding school,” but school staff allegedly blocked her access to the phone when she was sick.

According to Utah Department of Health and Human Services statistics obtained by Mortensen, Goodridge vomited at least 14 times before to her death, seven of which occurred during an 11-hour period.

Staff at the school, which charges $12,000 per month in tuition, allegedly informed Goodridge “that she was faking it” and needed “to suck it up.” When the 17-year-old student was in “excruciating pain,” school personnel advised her to “drink water and take aspirin,” according to the lawsuit.

Staff allegedly pushed Goodridge to get out of bed, take a shower, and go to the school’s medical clinic on the day she died.

Diamond Ranch Academy, which is still admitting students, promises to create a “long-term difference” in the lives of troubled teens, but the Goodridge family and others are demanding that it be closed permanently.

“We are devastated to learn that Taylor’s death was entirely preventable had Diamond Ranch Academy cared,” the girl’s parents, Dean Goodridge and AmberLynn Wigtion, said in a recent statement. “We are also dumbfounded that the State of Utah’s Department of Health and Human Services has not held Diamond Ranch Academy accountable for Taylor’s death, settling with Diamond Ranch Academy without any input from our family.”

They continued: “We intend to continue to pursue all avenues to hold Diamond Ranch Academy accountable for her death to make sure this does not happen to other innocent teens and their families.”

Mortensen mentioned three other separate incidents involving alleged abuse at the school, which could not be reached for comment.

“This place should be out of business, and the fact that the state of Utah allowed them to go back into business is beyond,” the attorney said, adding that he would “never send” his own child to the school.

According to Elle magazine, celebrities such as Michael Jackson’s daughter, Paris Jackson, who attended Diamond Ranch Academy, and Paris Hilton, who attended Provo Canyon School in Utah, where she claimed she was sexually molested, have both urged for the school to be closed down.

“It is vital that facilities like Diamond Ranch Academy are held accountable,” Hilton said in a December 2022 tweet after Goodridge’s death.

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