LOUDONVILLE — Gage Allen Lycans was a typical 14-year-old boy: he liked listening to music, playing guitar and spending time with his friends.
But unlike Lycans’s peers at Loudonville-Perrysville High School, he never made it past ninth grade because on Nov. 10, 2023, he shot himself. Nine days later, after undergoing emergency brain surgery to address the self-inflicted headshot wound, Lycans was taken off life support and pronounced dead.
His suicide was out of character and unexpected, according to his mother, Jessica Louk.
She claims the suicide was the result of bullying from students and a lack of response from school staff who failed to answer his cries for help on the day he shot himself.
“I know in my heart something went wrong and there was neglect somewhere,” Louk said.
Now, after two years of advocating against bullying and contacting the school to understand what went wrong, Louk filed a civil suit against the Loudonville-Perrysville School District on Nov. 19 in the Ashland County Common Pleas Court.
She is suing for wrongful death and negligence.
The lawsuit names the school district, school board, high school Principal Christine Butts, Superintendent Jennifer Allerding, former teacher Tyler Bates, assistant principal Daniel Eckenwiler, guidance counselor Kristen Thiebaud, teacher Marissa Burd, and Jane and John Doe as defendants.
Allerding said in an email statement: “Our school community continues to mourn the tragic loss of Gage Lycans. We extend our deepest sympathies to his family, friends, and all who cared for him.
“While federal and state laws governing student privacy limit the information we can share publicly, the district and the individuals named in the lawsuit firmly deny the allegations and will respond through the appropriate legal process,” the statement reads.
“The district takes all concerns involving student well-being seriously. Each of us remains committed to supporting our students and staff and to serving our community with care, professionalism, and integrity. We appreciate the community’s understanding as this matter proceeds,” Allerding said.
Louk said her son’s death could have been prevented if school faculty had contacted her about the events that took place the day Lycans decided to pull the trigger.
“I know my son cried for help,” she said.
There is no dollar amount listed, but the complaint filed by Louk’s attorneys seeks compensatory damages in an amount to be proven at trial by jury, in excess of $25,000.
“I don’t know how to put a price tag on my baby,” Louk said.
Alexandra Eckrich, Robert Glickman, Tyler Portner and Edward Mullin are representing Louk. Eckrich, who practices for McCarthy Lebit Crystal Liffman Co., LPA in Cleveland, said she had heard about the incident when it first happened through social media posts.
“I wanted to intervene so bad and I couldn’t,” Eckrich said.
Once she took a job at her new law firm, she reached out to Louk, interested in representing her. Eckrich calls it the “justice for Gage lawsuit,” a term Louk coined when she started spreading awareness about what happened to her son.
Eckrich seeks a jury trial.
The defendants’ lawyer, Sandra Renea McIntosh from Scott Scriven LLP in Columbus, has made a motion to strike some of the complaint, and Eckrich has filed opposition to the motion.
What happened at school Nov. 10, 2023
The day started with a suit.
Louk was surprised to see her son in a suit that morning. When she questioned Lycans about it, he said it was for the annual Veterans Day assembly.
Lycans was a member of FFA, and as a freshman, he did not have his blue jacket yet. So Louk said she figured he had to dress nice as a requirement, and thought nothing of it.
“We were laughing. I hugged my baby and I watched him walk to the school bus,” Louk said.
Louk later learned that Lycans told multiple students the was wearing his funeral suit, according to the complaint.
At least three students reported the comments to three separate teachers, none of whom reported the comments or approached Lycans to ask what was going on, according to the complaint.
When one of his teachers, Marissa Burd, saw him walk into class with the suit on, she also made a comment about the outfit.
According to the complaint, Lycans told her “It doesn’t matter after today.”
Louk described Lycans as a well-liked kid with lots of friends, but he sat alone at the Veterans Assembly that morning.
Butts told Louk she saw Lycans sitting alone at the assembly, which wasn’t like him and that she should’ve checked on him, according to the complaint.
Two days after the shooting, Louk said she was notified by another parent of kids who went to school with Lycans that he was in a physical altercation with another student that day.
Louk said she found out Lycans became angry with another student who took his seat in the lunchroom. Lycans slapped the boy, who then got up and shoved Lycans. Lycans put up his fists, still yelling at the boy when staff intervened and broke up the altercation. The video is not available to share to the public, according to Eckrich.
Bates broke up the altercation, and took two aside to tell them they were “sissies” and sent them on their way, according to the complaint.
Bates did not file a report about the incident and did not call either of the students’ parents, the complaint states.
Louk received this account from the boy Lycans was fighting with, who will be a witness in Louk’s case, Eckrich said.
“If he was in a fight, how was I not notified about that?” Louk asked.
Lycans had previously had incidents with the boy at school before, Louk said, and other infractions, including a suspension that took place a few weeks prior to the shooting for a separate altercation, according to Louk.
The school contacted Louk about all those previous instances, but not the physical altercation, the complaint said. Eckrich said she has phone records of the school contacting Louk on multiple occasions.
“He wasn’t an angel, he had some infractions,” Eckrich said.
Per the school’s 2023-24 policy on guidelines for misbehavior, fighting results in a suspension of some form and threats/bullying/intimidation results in a conference with parents and a suspension of some form.
Per the school’s bylaws and policies at the time, under the section “bullying and other forms of aggressive behavior,” the document states: “Every student is encouraged, and every staff member is required, to report any situation that they believe to be aggressive behavior directed toward a student.”
Further, the policy states, “All complaints about aggressive behavior that may violate this policy shall be promptly investigated.”
After the school day ended, Lycans came home, and had plans to go bowling and spend the night at his friend’s house, according to the complaint.
Lycans’ stepsister called his stepdad that evening to tell him Lycans’ friends texted her that they were worried about him and thought someone should check on him, according to the complaint.
Louk confronted Lycans, asking him if something was going on, and when she brought up the texts, Lycans became angry, according to the complaint.
He went down the hall to his room, where he then shot himself with his mom’s handgun in front of Louk, according to the complaint.
Louk said the gun was not in a locked location; it was out for protection because of a break-in that happened a few weeks prior. She said recognizes now that was a mistake.
“I’m gonna live with that for the rest of my life. It starts at home, but it doesn’t stop at home,” she said.
Louk said had she been notified about the fight and his concerning statements to friends that day, she could have done more to understand his feelings and prevent his death.
“I truly had multiple chances stolen from me that day.”
Louk
“I truly had multiple chances stolen from me that day,” she said.
She said all of those instances were out of character for Lycans; he never showed signs of suicidal thoughts, a sentiment shared by his counselor at the time, according to Louk.
“I didn’t have any signs like the school did,” she said.
She suspects the bullying and a recent breakup with a girlfriend, who allegedly told Lycans to “kill himself,” the night before the shooting were reasons for his suicidal feelings.
The aftermath of Lycans’ death
Louk did not stop grappling to understand what happened on the day Lycans shot himself.
Butts and Bates denied the physical altercation ever took place, and as a result never opened an investigation into the incident, according to the complaint.
By May of 2024, Louk began speaking with an attorney, who ultimately did not take on her case.
Immediately after the shooting, Loudonville and Perrysville residents showed their support for Lycans, hosting a vigil for him while he was still in the hospital.
Eight days after the shooting friends and guests were invited to say final goodbyes to Lycans at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Butts and other faculty stopped by, according to Louk.
Louk has been active on Facebook about what happened to her son, and others have come forward sharing similar sentiments about bullying at the school.
Loudonville-Perrysville Schools started new programs in the 2025-26 school year to address bullying, including Hope Squad and Rachel’s Promise.
