Left inset: McKenzie Scott (KSNV/YouTube). Right inset: Keenan Jackson (KTNV/YouTube). Background: The Las Vegas high school is accused of forcing McKenzie Scott to park off campus before she was killed by a drunk driver, Keenan Jackson (KSNV/YouTube).
A high-school senior in Nevada was killed by a drunk driver while walking to grab her graduation cap and gown for a “Senior Walk” ceremony after her school forced students to park off campus “due to insufficient on-campus parking,” a lawsuit says.
The parents of McKenzie Scott, 18, are suing the Clark County School District and the city of Las Vegas, as well as the driver who killed her, for negligence and wrongful death in connection with the May 2025 crash that claimed her life.
The family filed its legal complaint outlining their allegations exactly one year to the day that Scott died. Keenan Jackson pleaded guilty to DUI resulting in death in October and was sentenced to serve eight to 20 years in prison in November.
“Scott was an 18-year-old high school senior at Arbor View High School,” the complaint says. “She was scheduled to participate in the school”s ‘Senior Walk’ ceremony that day. Due to insufficient on-campus parking … the school had instructed students via email dated April 9, 2025, to park their vehicles on North Buffalo Drive.”
Scott’s family says she parked her vehicle on North Buffalo Drive “as instructed” by the school. She went outside to “retrieve her cap and gown from her vehicle to participate in the Senior Walk” and was on her way to her car when Jackson mowed her down with his 2018 Chevrolet Malibu while she was in a marked crosswalk.
“Scott was lawfully crossing,” the complaint says. “Jackson failed to yield the right of way and struck her with his vehicle. The impact caused [Scott] to sustain catastrophic blunt force injuries.”
Scott was pronounced dead at the hospital. Her family says the crosswalk she was in had been the subject of “multiple complaints and concerns regarding its unreasonably dangerous nature” of which the city and school district were aware.
“Despite these multiple complaints and concerns of the unreasonably dangerous subject crosswalk, neither defendant City of Las Vegas nor defendant CCSD took adequate measures to protect pedestrians using the subject crosswalk,” the complaint alleges. “Defendant City of Las Vegas failed to install adequate warning devices, signals, or other traffic calming measures at the subject crosswalk despite actual knowledge of the unreasonably dangerous conditions there.”
Arbor View High School and the district “knew or should have known” that directing students to park on Buffalo Drive would expose them to the “unreasonably dangerous” crosswalk and they “failed to provide adequate crossing guards or other safety measures,” the complaint concludes.
“Following [Scott’s] death, both the City of Las Vegas and CCSD implemented safety measures that were known … and that were feasible to implement prior to May 2, 2025; and should have been in place prior to May 2, 2025,” the document charges, noting how overhead pedestrian-activated flashers and additional signage were installed at the crosswalk. A crossing guard program at Arbor View High School was also implemented.
Scott’s family has requested a jury trial and more than $130,000 in damages.
A CCSD spokesperson provided a statement to Law&Crime on Wednesday, saying, “The CCSD community continues to share our deepest condolences with the family of McKenzie Scott. While we continue to provide support to the school community following the tragic loss, CCSD does not comment on pending litigation.”
The City of Las Vegas told Law&Crime, “The city is reviewing the filing.”
