Medical examiner rules 12-year-old's death natural causes after school fight

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner ruled that Khimberly Zavaleta, 12, died of natural causes — not from injuries sustained during a school fight in Reseda — contradicting her family's claims that a blow to the head with a metal water bottle caused her death, ABC7 Los Angeles reported Wednesday.

The ruling comes as the Zavaleta family pursues a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Unified School District, alleging the school failed to protect their daughter. It also follows the April 2026 arrest of a minor on suspicion of murder — a charge that may now face legal complications given the examiner's findings.

The medical examiner determined that Zavaleta's death resulted from the spontaneous rupture of blood vessels — a finding unrelated to external trauma, according to ABC7 Los Angeles. The family has maintained that a metal water bottle strike to Zavaleta's head during a February 2026 school fight caused a brain injury that led directly to her death days later.

Robert Glassman, an attorney for the Zavaleta family, disputed the official ruling. The report "ignores the undeniable reality of what happened to Khimberly," Glassman said, according to ABC7 Los Angeles.

The incident occurred at a school in Reseda in February 2026. A minor was arrested in April 2026 on suspicion of murder in connection with the death, according to ABC7 Los Angeles. The examiner's natural-causes ruling could complicate both the criminal case and the family's civil lawsuit against LAUSD.

LAUSD has not issued a public statement on the family's lawsuit, according to ABC7 Los Angeles. The case has drawn scrutiny over school safety protocols and the legal standards used to connect campus incidents to student deaths.

The Zavaleta family's lawsuit against LAUSD remains active. No trial date has been set, according to ABC7 Los Angeles. A minor remains in custody pending further proceedings in the criminal case.