Father of slain Bronx teen blames Meta, New York City in $50 million lawsuit

The father of a slain Bronx teenager says the New York City Administration for Children's Services and Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, bear responsibility for his daughter's death in a $50 million lawsuit.

Tony Mizell's daughter, Emery Mizell, was stabbed to death outside a Soundview apartment building while walking home from school in May 2024. Police arrested a 15-year-old girl in foster care and charged her with the 17-year-old's murder. 

"A parent's worse nightmare" 

Mizell said his daughter told him the suspect was bullying her about another friend on Instagram for about a month. 

"But when I asked the school about it, the school said that girl wasn't coming to school. So there was no meeting of the parents or none of that," he said. 

Mizell's lawyer, Mark David Shirian, said his client's daughter was "bullied endlessly on Instagram" weeks before the incident. 

"She would just like call my daughter names on social media. She was making threats, actually, that I saw. She was gonna stab my daughter when she sees her," Mizell said. 

Meta said it removes threats of violence when it becomes aware of them and that teen accounts have strict messaging settings. 

"Clear warning signs" 

Mizell's lawsuit claims ACS "failed to intervene despite clear warning signs of escalating violence," since the suspect was in foster care under their supervision. 

"ACS is committed to providing the highest quality care and support to children and youth in our care. We are currently reviewing this lawsuit with the Law Department," a spokesperson for ACS said. 

Mizell said he believes his daughter's death could have been prevented. 

"I'm bringing this [lawsuit] because this is a parent's worst nightmare and I don't want nobody else to have to go through something like this," he said. 

The lawsuit also names landlords of the building where the stabbing happened and the legal guardians of the 15-year-old.