Logo

A Missouri school agreed to pay over $400,000 to a cheerleader following a back-to-class event that ended with her being stomped on in a muddy pit.

Megan Taylor said she was pushed from behind and fell on her face in what other students described as a “mosh pit” in 2010, during “How Night,” an annual event at Kickapoo High School sponsored by the student council, the Springfield News-Leader reported Tuesday, when court records about the case became available.

“I started screaming, telling them to get off because I was feeling really crushed. And I felt like everything was kind of just getting squished,” she said during a 2017 deposition. “And then I felt my shoulder pop.”

The then-17-year-old senior repeatedly lost consciousness and was dragged to safety by a fellow student, while other teens continued to shove, scream, jump and slather mud on each other.

Kids covered in mud at Kickapoo High School’s “HOW Night” in 2010Kickapoo Court ExhibitsKids covered in mud at Kickapoo High School’s “HOW Night” in 2010Kickapoo Court Exhibits

Taylor, now 25, ended up with a fractured collarbone and injured her heart and the surrounding tissue. She suffered four strokes that left her with permanent brain damage, including severe dementia and temporary total blindness.

She missed nearly two months of her senior year and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

In a suit filed three years ago against the Springfield Public School district and the then-principal David Schmitz, she said the muddy pit wasn’t properly supervised and that school employees took too long to render emergency aid.

The school settled the suit this summer, agreeing to pay out $423,106, plus the cost of medication, to Taylor, who now goes to Missouri Southern State University.

A student’s T-shirt at Kickapoo High School’s “HOW Night” in 2010Kickapoo Court ExhibitsA student’s T-shirt at Kickapoo High School’s “HOW Night” in 2010Kickapoo Court Exhibits
Comments
anonymous profile image
Powered by RoundtableBuilt on infrastructure designed for real-time media. Learn more at RTB.io.© Roundtable 2026. By using this site you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy