Note: The video is from February 2015.
Millersville University paid a $1.5 million settlement to resolve a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of a student who was killed in her dorm room by her boyfriend eight years ago.
Karlie Hall, 18, a freshman at the university in 2015, was strangled and beaten to death in her Bard Hall dorm room by her boyfriend, Gregorio Orrostieta, who is currently serving a 20- to 40-year prison term for third-degree murder after being convicted in 2016.
Hall's parents, John and Jeannette Hall, filed a wrongful death suit against the university in January 2017, claiming Millersville could have prevented their daughter's death if school officials had acted to address previous acts of violence against her by Orrostieta.
The terms of the settlement were first reported by LNP | LancasterOnline, which filed a Right To Know Law request last year. Millersville released the information on Monday, according to LancasterOnline.
The school also agreed to implement or continue efforts to educate students on recognizing and addressing sexual misconduct as part of the settlement.
Millersville did not admit liability in the settlement; both parties agreed to settle "for the sole purpose of avoiding the expenses of further litigation," the settlement said.
The Halls claimed in their lawsuit that the university's policy requiring Hall to live on campus created a special environment, where the school "undertook a legal and constitutional responsibility" to protect resident students "from dangers that were known or should have been known."
The lawsuit cited several instances where school officials were made aware of Orrostieta's potentially violent behavior, including one instance where campus police had to escort him from her dorm after a domestic incident there four months before Hall's murder.
Orrostieta, who had been in a relationship with Hall since both were in high school, was not a student at Millersville.
In a statement to FOX43, Millersville University director of communications Janet Kacskos said: “Educating students about sexual misconduct and sexual assault is weaved into departments across Millersville’s campus, from our Center for Health Education and Promotion to our police department, Greek life, athletics and Title IX coordinator. Millersville University has had educational programming for more than 10 years.”
Kacskos outlined the ongoing efforts by the school in that regard, including a "Red Flag" program during Sexual Assault Awareness Month in April. The program provides information to students on health and unhealthy relationships and indicators of potential dating abuse.
The school also provides resources to students on and off campus, Kacskos said.
The school also provides "Green Dot" training to students and staff, which includes bystander intervention strategies designed to reduce and prevent sexual violence, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking, Kacskos said.