Family of drowned student wants answers from school and police

Doris Amponsah, Marcum's mother, was accompanied by family members at the church for her son's memorial service. She told reporters she is still wondering what happened at school the day Marcum died.

Several weeks after the death of Marcum Asiamah, attorneys for his mother have filed a letter of intent to sue the town of East Hartford and East Hartford High School for wrongful death.

The Jan. 17 letter addressed to Town Clerk Robert J. Pasek  notified the town of “intention to commence action against the town of East Hartford; Mark F. Zito of the board of education; Matthew J. Ryan, principal of East Hartford High School; Joseph Leroy, director of athletics, East Hartford and such other persons to be determined through investigation.”

A letter of intent means an individual believes sufficient cause exists to file a legal action, and it is the first step before the matter goes to court. Doris Amponsah, the mother of Marcum, has said that the police and the school officials have released little information to the family regarding the circumstances surrounding the 15-year-old's death.

“I just want to know what happened,'' Amponsah said, speaking to the press before entering the Rivers of Life Church in Vernon for a memorial service for her son. She expressed gratitude to students at East Hartford High School for their condolences to the family, but said she is disappointed with the response by school officials so far. “When you send your child to school, you don't expect him to die,” she said. Amponsah declined to comment further on possible pending legal action.

The freshman was found at the bottom of the swimming pool Jan. 11 at East Hartford High School during a gym class, and was later pronounced dead at Hartford Hospital. Since that day, police have continued to say that the incident is under investigation, and Superintendent Mark Zito has also said the investigation is ongoing. It has not been revealed who witnessed the incident and who else was in the pool area at the time. A staff member is reported to have performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the student until paramedics arrived. The  incident occurred during a regularly-scheduled gym class.

East Hartford's Ghanian community has embraced Doris Amponsah. A traditional ceremony marking a parent's loss of a child was held Jan. 27, with more than 100 people in attendance. Participants wore black and white patterned outfits, which one man who attended explained was traditional in Ghanian culture.

Some who attended were students at East Hartford High School who are also of Ghanian heritage.  “There have been no answers – it's been over two weeks. It shouldn't take this long to find out what happened,” said Marvin Osei, a senior at East Hartford High School. “He was in a P.E. class – it almost seems like they are hiding something.” Osei described Marcum Asiamah as, “a good friend, someone who always had a smile on his face.”

Emmanuel Kankam, a sophomore and close friend of Marcum, had planned to meet him after school the day he drowned. “They keep saying they are investigating, but I don't think they have told everything they know,” Kankam said. ”I think they don't want to expose the school.”