Judge to deny Raleigh’s motion to be dismissed from Hailey Brooks parade death suit
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Judge will deny the city of Raleigh’s request to be dismissed from the suit.
- Court found the city acted in a proprietary function and lacks governmental immunity.
- The memorandum directs Brooks family attorneys to draft a final order denying dismissal.
Court documents indicate that a judge will deny the city of Raleigh’s motion to be dismissed from a lawsuit concerning the death of Hailey Brooks, an 11-year-old girl, in the 2022 Raleigh Christmas Parade.
A “memorandum of decision,” which is not a final, signed order by the judge, was included in court documents released Wednesday.
It instructs the attorneys representing the Brooks family to draft a final order that would deny the city of Raleigh’s request to be dismissed from the suit.
The city’s attorneys had previously argued that Raleigh had “governmental immunity” while planning for safety and crowd control at the parade.
“The Court finds that the City was engaging in a proprietary function with regard to the Christmas parade at issue and therefore does not have governmental immunity,” Wake County Superior Court Judge Bryan Collins wrote in the memorandum.
Proprietary functions are “activities that could just as easily be performed by a private entity, generally benefit a specific group of users, or charge fees,” according to the UNC School of Government, while governmental activities like police and fire protection are done for the public good on behalf of the state.
Landen Glass, who was driving a pickup truck in the parade, struck and killed Brooks and pleaded guilty last year to charges in her death.
Brooks’ family targeted Glass, parade organizer Shop Local Raleigh, the city and others in a wrongful death lawsuit. Since filing the lawsuit, the family has settled with several parties, including Glass and a parade float company.
The Brooks family is also suing Whitney Schoenfeld, the city’s senior manager in its Office of Special Events, and Kirk Archer II, a special events planner with the city in 2022 who now works for the city of Durham. Attorneys for both the individuals are asking Collins to dismiss them from the lawsuit, arguing that they were only acting in their capacity as city employees, not at their own discretion.
This story was originally published June 25, 2026 at 12:47 PM.
