DEVIN BUTTS
FAMILY SUES NCCU IN
DEATH OF EAGLES
BASKETBALL PLAYER
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
The family of a deceased former North Carolina Central University Eagles basketball player is suing the school for his 2023 wrongful death, citing negligence.
The wrongful death lawsuit, filed with the NC Industrial Commission, charges that 22-year-old Devin Butts died of cardiac arrest during an offseason late night workout with three teammates in the school’s McDougald-McLendon Arena in Durham, a workout that was supposed to have been prohibited in the facility after hours.
NCCU allowed Basketball Coach LeVelle Moton and staff to disregard school policy by “allowing athletes to work out unsupervised after hours…” the lawsuit maintains. Accordingly, NCCU administrators “created and/or allowed to exist a culture among the athletic department, particularly the men’s basketball team” that violated school policies and NCAA limitations on athletic activities.”
Allegedly, on the night of April 30, 2023, Devin Butts was able to join three of his teammates for an unsupervised one-on-one workout in the facility through an unlocked side door that had been propped open.
It was around 12:30 a.m. May 1, 2023 when Butts was felled by a cardiac event and fell to the court. His teammates called 911 at 12:35 a.m., records show, but it would be 18 minutes before Durham County emergency medical personnel responded on-site restart Devin’s heart.
The Butts family lawsuit also maintained that emergency medical response to help transport Devin to a nearby hospital was too slow, adding that in the meantime, because of the slow EMT response, Devin’s brain was deprived of needed oxygen for a prolonged period.
He died four days later, on May 3rd, 2023 at Duke University Hospital.
The Butts family suit alleges that there was no life-saving equipment available on-site that could have helped save the young man’s life. The only automated external defibrillator (AED) available was locked away in a trainer’s office in a different part of the building.
“Devin was denied essential, life-saving medical treatment that more likely than not would have restored his heart beat to a normal sinus rhythm and mitigated consequences of his cardiac event,” the lawsuit states.
Devin Butts was a 6-5 forward for NCCU’s Eagles Men’s Basketball team, and a native of Macon Georgia.
His family is seeking monetary damages for pain and suffering, in addition to medical expenses associated with the emergency, and punitive damages.
NCCU has not responded to press inquiries for a response to the lawsuit.
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ST. AUG ORDERED TO PAY
MILLIONS TO WIRELESS CO.
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
A judge has ordered beleaguered St. Augustine’s University (SAU) in Raleigh to pay two wireless companies in excess of $20 million for breach of contract, in addition to thousands more in attorney’s fees and interest.
This was just one of many lawsuits from vendors filed against the small, private Episcopalian HBCU (historically Black college/university) in past years, in addition to pending lawsuits from former employees.
And this judgement comes as SAU is fighting for its very future in the aftermath of being denied permanent renewal of its academic accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges last March.
The school is currently in arbitration over that decision, a hearing for which is scheduled on June 26th. SAU was able to be granted temporary accreditation status in order for its class of 2025 to graduate last May.
But it’s this most recent order by a Wake County judge that may make SAU’s difficult climb back to solvency that much harder.
According to court documents dated May 16th, an entry of default was certified against SAU ordering it to pay SBA Connect,LLC $20,324,78530 plus interest.
The Florida-based company, along with Avaria, an IT company based in Raleigh, had alleged that SAU defaulted in paying for contracted services. So both firms gave the school the option of paying an early termination fee. SAU was also ordered to pay $11,551.23 in attorney’s fees, along with any other court costs assessed.
Reportedly, because SAU decided not to defend itself against the lawsuit, the default judgement was rendered.
SAU officials have not issued any public statements regarding the court ruling.
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