A New Jersey teen who died after being hit by a train 10 years ago may have been the victim of a hate crime, not suicide as investigators said, her family claims in a lawsuit filed on Friday.
Tiffany Valiante, an 18-year-old volleyball star from Mays Landing, died after being struck by a New Jersey Transit train on July 12, 2015, approximately 4 miles from her home.
The death of the openly gay student was initially ruled a suicide, a conclusion reached by investigators in less than 12 hours. For the past decade, the finding has been disputed by her family, who allege that key details of the investigation didn’t add up.
In 2022, forensic scientists concluded that some of the evidence analyzed by investigators, including a towel and a T-shirt, was so poorly handled that it was “of no scientific probative value.” The analysis also found that NJ Transit Police lost or allowed essential evidence to deteriorate.
On Friday, a lawyer representing the family said at a press conference that recently uncovered text messages between Valiente and at least two other people included hateful gay slurs directed at her — evidence that was also overlooked by authorities, he said.
Attorney Paul D’Amato highlighted the new evidence as being central to a gender-bias and wrongful death lawsuit filed by Valiente’s parents, who hope it will prompt the first full investigation into their daughter’s death.
“The complaint raises for the first time the specter of a premeditated hate crime: an assertion based in large part on a forensic review, using current tools and technology, of recently recovered, violent anti-lesbian messages (among thousands of total messages analyzed) directed at Tiffany in the months before her death,” the Egg Harbor Township-based D’Amato Law firm said in a news release.
The teen’s sexual orientation was known to and accepted by her family and friends in her tight-knit community. However, investigators allegedly ruled her death a suicide without ever considering whether her sexual identity may have played a factor, the suit claims.
The lawsuit names the state of New Jersey, its police department, NJ Transit and the New Jersey Chief Medical Examiner’s Office as defendants.
