On Sept. 19, 2019, plaintiff’s decedent Emmanuel “Manny” Perez, 15, an autistic special education student at El Modena High School, sat in an unsecured and unsupervised electric golf cart that was owned by the school’s operator, the Orange Unified School District. Manny, who behaved and processed information as a third grader, began to have a tantrum and inadvertently applied the golf cart’s accelerator pedal. The cart sped forward and struck a metal railing. Manny suffered of his abdomen and chest. He died later that day. Manny’s mother, Micaela Sanchez Corona, acting individually and on behalf of Manny’s estate, sued the Orange Unified School District. (Manny’s father, Jaime Perez, was added as a nominal party in the case.) Corona alleged that the school district’s staff failed to properly monitor her son, causing his wrongful death. Plaintiff’s counsel contended that Manny’s instructional aides failed to properly monitor Manny, which allowed him to sit alone in the golf cart, and that the aides’ actions were in violation of Manny’s individualized educational program. Counsel also contended that the golf cart was negligently left with the ignition turned to the “ON” position and the “FWD” gear activated., Manny sustained significant chest and abdominal trauma. He ultimately succumbed to his at the hospital later that same day. Manny’s mother sought recovery of wrongful death damages for the loss of her son.