The mother of a University of Texas student who was stabbed and killed on campus has filed a lawsuit against a group of health care providers that treated the attacker's mental illness in the months before the attack.

Lori Brown, whose son Harrison Brown died May 1, 2017, claims the doctors and their employers did not adequately assess the dangers posed by Kendrex White, despite signs of psychotic disturbance. White was found not guilty by reason of insanity in Harrison's death in December and is now in a state psychiatric hospital.

The lawsuit, filed in state District Court in Travis County near the two-year anniversary of Brown's death, asks for more than $1 million in damages.

The suit also names White's parents as defendants. It says they drove him back to school in Austin in April 2017 after witnessing his erratic and dangerous behavior. The stabbing attacks happened shortly after.

"The wrongful death of Harrison Brown should never have occurred," the 43-page suit said. "And because Kendrex's condition was known to each of the defendants in the weeks leading up to Harrison's death, and given the special relationship they had with him, they share in that civil liability."

Jana Ortega, the attorney who represented White in his criminal trial, said the family had not retained counsel in the civil case and did not have a comment on the lawsuit.

The suit names four doctors in Austin and Killeen who treated White for mental health issues in the weeks before the stabbing and two health care providers, including AdventHealth Central Texas and Ascension Seton, which operated University Medical Center Brackenridge at the time.

Among other claims, they are accused of not properly evaluating and treating White's mental illnesses, which the suit said included his belief that he was Jesus Christ.

"He heard voices of several people, some of which he had named, and most of which were negative and berating: telling him to die, that he's not worth living, that there is no hope ... And despite all of these conditions, Kendrex was released, left unsupervised and allowed to have access to weapons such as a Bowie knife he used in his psychotic attack," the suit said.

Days before the attack at UT, White had been taken by police to UMC Brackenridge after he sent a text message to his parents indicating suicidal thoughts, according to the suit. Staff at the hospital released him in a cab after deciding he was just stressed out from school and not a danger to himself or others.

A day earlier, White had been released after a nine-day nine stay at a mental hospital near his parents’ home in Killeen. The lawsuit alleges that doctors there did not administer the proper dose of anti-psychotic drugs to White while he was at the hospital and that he should not have been released.



AdventHealth Central Texas and Ascension Seton both said Friday that they do not comment on pending litigation.

"Patient safety is our top priority, and we are committed to providing high quality and safe care to all patients we are privileged to serve," Seton said.



Brown, a freshman from Graham, had just completed a workout and was outside Gregory Gym when he was fatally stabbed. Several other students were injured but have recovered.