Father sues Utah boarding school for alleged malpractice after daughter's death

The father of a teenage girl who died at a Utah boarding school is suing the center that he says ignored his daughter’s intense grief for weeks before her death.

In mid-December, 17-year-old Taylor Goodridge collapsed at Diamond Ranch Academy in Hurricane, Utah, after she reported feeling ill and was dead when police arrived, reports FOX 13 Salt Lake City.

The legal complaint filed by her father, Dean Goodridge, alleges Taylor told staff she had severe stomach pains, who told her she was faking it and to drink water and take aspirin.

The Utah Department of Health and Human Resources confirmed to the station that the school was placed on probation the day after Taylor’s death, which is standard protocol.

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The father of 17-year-old Taylor Goodridge is suing the Utah boarding school for alleged negligence after his daughter’s death.
(Dean Goodridge)

“Here’s this young teenager being sent to Utah from Washington state to try to help her get her life back on track, and before you know it, she died of what we believe will ultimately turn out to be sepsis, and with no explanation. They had just called the family and said she died of a heart attack,” Goodridge family attorney Alan Mortensen told FOX 13.

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"They had just called the family and they said he died of a heart attack," Goodridge family attorney Alan Mortensen said.

“They just called the family and said he died of a heart attack,” Goodridge family lawyer Alan Mortensen said.
(Dean Goodridge)

In October 2021, when Taylor was 16 years old, she was reported missing as a teenager in Snohomish County, Washington, according to FOX 13 Seattle. The local sheriff’s office had said she was last seen at a party with more than 100 people on a Saturday night. She was found safe in a house the following Monday morning.

Diamond Ranch Academy Principal Ricky Dias told the television station that they are cooperating “fully and transparently” with the state of Utah during the investigation and that student safety is their top priority.