The Westchester County District Attorney's Office says it will not file charges in the case of an Italian student who died at a Thornwood boarding school, according to the Mount Pleasant police chief.
Police say he died by suicide.
The school says Mandia had been expelled three days earlier for academic reasons.
According to police, he was in solitary confinement and couldn't leave without permission.
Mandia's parents had arrived in New York to see him the day his body was found.
The investigation included documents from EF Academy and an examination of Claudio's personal electronic devices.
His family filed a civil lawsuit against the school earlier this month, alleging EF knew their son wasn't mentally stable. They say the school never should have put him in solitary confinement.
EF Academy issued the following statement to News 12:
“We remain deeply saddened
by the tragic passing of Claudio Mandia, and our hearts go out to his family,
friends, and our entire school community during this difficult time.
The safety of our school community is always our top
priority, and we take the physical and mental wellbeing of our students
extremely seriously.
The lawsuit filed several weeks ago contains multiple
inaccurate statements and is not based on fact. In particular, Claudio
was awaiting the arrival of his family in an unlocked student dorm room, and at
no time was he placed in solitary confinement without social interaction or
access to other resources and facilities. We are certain that our
organization and the caring individuals we work with acted appropriately at all
times.”
While we are heartbroken about Claudio’s death, we
appreciate the District Attorney of Westchester County’s conclusion last week
after a thorough, eight-month investigation to review all of the facts. The
District Attorney determined there is no basis to bring charges against EF
Academy or any of its dedicated staff.
Our hearts remain with Claudio’s family, and we reserve
further comments at this time.