		<div class="wpcnt">
			<div class="wpa">
				<span class="wpa-about">Advertisements</span>
				<div class="u top_amp">
							<amp-ad width="300" height="265"
		 type="pubmine"
		 data-siteid="109460728"
		 data-section="1">
		</amp-ad>
				</div>
			</div>
		</div><header id="ra-headers">
<h6 id="ra-headline"><span style="color:#1a0202;"><strong>Parents of alleged rape victim blame University of Alabama, law enforcement for her suicide </strong></span></h6>
<h6><span style="color:#1a0202;"><strong>Megan Rondini, a 20-year-old University of Alabama student, killed herself after claiming she was raped by a Tuscaloosa man</strong></span></h6>
<h6><span style="color:#1a0202;"><strong>Terry Bunn Jr, Rondini&#8217;s alleged attacker, hasn&#8217;t been charged</strong></span></h6>
<h6><span style="color:#1a0202;"><strong>He was 34-years-old at the time and wasn&#8217;t a student at the university</strong></span></h6>
<h6><span style="color:#1a0202;"><strong>Rondini met Bunn at a Tuscaloosa bar, who allegedly drugged and raped her in his home in July 2015 </strong></span></h6>
<h6><span style="color:#1a0202;"><strong>Cindy and Michael Rondini say their daughter was railroaded by a system that is protecting her &#8216;connected&#8217; rapist Terry Bunn Jr</strong></span></h6>
<h6><span style="color:#1a0202;"><strong>She withdrew from UA in October 2015 and moved back to Texas</strong></span></h6>
<h6><span style="color:#1a0202;"><strong>She was suffering from depression and anxiety, which allegedly, led to her death</strong></span></h6>
<h6><span style="color:#1a0202;"><strong>Rondini died after hanging herself on Feb. 26, 2016</strong></span></h6>
</header>
<div id="ra-body-wrap">
<article id="ra-body">
<h6><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-205474" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/megan-rondini3.png" alt="Megan Rondini3.png" width="713" height="686" /><strong>Megan Rondini hanged herself in October, 2016 after getting no justice against an influential individual who stripped her of all basic human dignity</strong></h6>
<p>The family of a University of Alabama student who committed suicide last year after her efforts seeking redress against a man she claims raped her failed, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against her alleged attacker, school staffers and law enforcement over the weekend.<br />
The parents of Megan Rondini, a 20-year-old former UA student who took her own life after accusing a wealthy member of the community of rape are blaming the suicide on the assault as well as law enforcement and the school’s mishandling of the investigation.<br />
Cindy and Michael Rondini, in a <a href="http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/assets/pdf/DA128873.PDF">wrongful-death lawsuit</a>, filed against university officials and law enforcement, claim detectives were not sympathetic while investigating claims that Terry Bunn Jr. raped their daughter, Megan, in July 2015.<br />
They also believe her alleged attacker escaped prosecution because of his prominent and wealthy family.<img class=" alignleft" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/megan-rondini6.png?w=323" alt="Megan Rondini6.png" /><br />
“She’s like, ‘Mom, they think it’s my fault,&#8217;” Cindy Rondini told <a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/university-of-alabama-wrongful-death-lawsuit-megan-rondini-rape-claims-suicide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CBS News</a> while fighting through tears. “Like, ‘It’s not your fault, baby.’”<br />
She spoke with officers a few hours after the alleged incident and was read her Miranda Rights. She &#8220;was treated as a crime suspect,&#8221; the lawsuit said.<br />
The suit says the college student met a man at a Tuscaloosa bar and was allegedly drugged before being raped in his home in July 2015.<br />
<span class="s1">The lawsuit identifies Terry Bunn Jr. as the man she accused of rape, and </span><span class="s1">BuzzFeed and other outlets have reported that he is a member of a wealthy and influential Tuscaloosa family.<br />
</span>He has not been charged with a crime. The district attorney concluded Rondini’s case didn’t meet the legal definition of sexual assault &#8211; By Alabama law, victims are required to prove they “earnestly” fought their attacker &#8211; and was subsequently closed.<br />
Rondini [photo], said her attacker drove her to his house where he expressed a desire to have sex with her. She “repeatedly asked [Bunn] to take her home or back to her friend’s residence and he refused,” according to the lawsuit.<br />
Instead, he “demanded her to get on his bed &#8230; [and] forcefully removed her clothing.”<br />
Speaking to police later on the night of the alleged attack, Rondini said she’d “repeatedly” told the man she did not want to have sex with him.<br />
He “sexually attacked, abused and assaulted Megan for over 30 minutes against her will and without her consent,” the suit said.<br />
When the man eventually fell asleep, Rondini tried to leave the room but discovered she was locked inside.</p>
<h6><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-205515" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/t-j-bunn1.png" alt="T.J. Bunn1.png" width="679" height="500" /><strong>Terry &#8216;TJ&#8217; Bunn Jr was questioned after Megan Rondini reported the rape, but has never been charged with an offense. The Prosecutor&#8217;s office said the victim&#8217;s claim did not meet the burden of proof under Alabama lae to move for an indictment</strong></h6>
<div class="content-list-component bn-content-list-text text">
<p class="p5"><span class="s1">In a panic, she crawled through a second-story window and jumped to the ground. </span>As she was leaving the property, Rondini realized she’d lost her keys. She told police that she searched the man’s car for them, and found a wallet and a pistol inside. Thinking she might have to take a taxi home, <a class="bn-clickable" href="https://www.buzzfeed.com/katiejmbaker/how-accusing-a-powerful-man-of-rape-drove-a-college-student?utm_term=.sc2mza0p1#.svr5ynOb2" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">she took $3 out of the wallet</a><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/megan-rondini-rape-wrongful-death-suit-suicide_us_595c90c3e4b02734df349cee">,</a> she told authorities, and picked up the gun “for safety.”</p>
</div>
<div class="content-list-component bn-content-list-text text">
<p class="p5"><span class="s1">Being unfamiliar with guns, however, Rondini said she accidentally fired it before dropping it on the ground. She did not pick it up again.</span></p>
</div>
<div class="content-list-component bn-content-list-text text">
<p class="p6"><span class="s1">“I was never going to hurt anybody with it,” Rondini told investigators, according to BuzzFeed. “I got it just to protect myself but I don’t eat meat, I could never kill anything, even if it came to that point I wouldn’t have been able to use it on a person.”</span></p>
</div>
<div class="content-list-component bn-content-list-text text">
<p class="p8"><span class="s3">Investigators were fixated on this detail, according to the suit. “</span><span class="s1">inexplicably, the police shifted the focus to potentially prosecuting Megan for an accidental firearm discharge rather than investigating her assault. Megan ultimately was treated as a crime suspect and her status as a victim of a sex crime was completely disregarded,” it said.</span></p>
</div>
<h6><strong><img class="alignnone wp-image-205422" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/cindy-and-michael-rondini-parents-of-megan-rondini.jpg" alt="Cindy and Michael Rondini, parents of Megan Rondini" width="1169" height="654" />Cindy and Michael Rondini say their daughter was railroaded by a system that is protecting her &#8216;connected&#8217; tapist Terry Bunn Jr</strong></h6>
<p>Hours after she escaped her alleged attacker’s house, the 20-year-old University of Alabama student reported the incident to police, who her parents said seemed to treat her more like a suspect.<br />
Terry &#8216;TJ&#8217; Bunn Jr., Rondini&#8217;s alleged attacker, hasn&#8217;t been charged. The son of Terry Bunn and nephew of Sonny Bunn, owners of S.T. Bunn Construction, he was 34-years-old at the time and wasn&#8217;t a student at the university.<br />
However, case investigators were most interested in figuring out whether the 20-year-old Rondini had committed a crime, according to the lawsuit.<br />
While being questioned by officers, Rondini explained how she repeatedly told the man she wanted to leave and then how she mistakenly fired his gun and stole $3 for cab fare before making a run for it.<br />
“I’m really sorry, like I didn’t, I just —” Rondini can be heard saying before breaking down for a moment.<br />
Cindy drove from their hometown in Texas to Alabama in the days after the alleged attack to be with her daughter.</p>
<h6 class="ra-caption"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-205431" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/megan-rondini11.jpg" alt="Megan Rondini1.jpg" width="1200" height="951" />Megan Rondini killed herself in February 2016, less than a year after she reported the alleged rape, by the scion of an influential Alabama family</h6>
<p>“It was the most heartbreaking moment of my life,” the mother told the news station through tears.<br />
In a recording of Bunn’s interrogation, he can be heard thanking officers for their courtesy: &#8220;I appreciate y&#8217;all&#8217;s professionalism. And I appreciate the way y&#8217;all have handled this,&#8221; Bunn told the investigators.<br />
“If it was me on the other side, I’d want to do the same thing for me,” the investigator responded.<br />
A grand jury later declined to indict Bunn, whose family owns a large construction company in town. When he was appointed to a state conservation board, the local paper wrote a glowing profile.<br />
&#8220;His family is very well connected,&#8221; Michael Rondini said.<br />
When Megan Rondini sought counseling from the university, her first therapist had to withdraw because she personally knew Bunn.<br />
Rondini met with Women and Gender Resource Center counselor Kathy Echols and told her about the alleged assault.</p>
<h6><img class="alignnone wp-image-205505" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/jery-bunn-jr2.png" alt="Jery Bunn Jr2.png" width="859" height="488" /><strong>Deputies question Terry &#8216;TJ&#8217; Bunn after the rape incident, July 6, 2015</strong></h6>
<p>Echols told Rondini at the end of the conversations that the two could no longer meet because she knew Bunn and his family personally and it would be a conflict of interest. Rondini felt &#8220;betrayed and disheartened&#8221; that she had revealed the details of her alleged assault to a close friend of Bunn&#8217;s, according to the suit.<br />
The grand jury, in the end, opted against indicting Bunn and Megan committed suicide in February 2016.<br />
A federal lawsuit filed by the Rondinis on Monday accuses Bunn, members of the sheriff&#8217;s department and two university officials of causing &#8220;Megan extreme depression, anxiety, PTSD&#8221; and &#8220;feelings of worthlessness and hopelessness&#8230; which directly led to Megan&#8217;s loss of life.&#8221;<br />
&#8220;We would get phone calls where she would be afraid. She&#8217;s like, &#8216;mom there&#8217;s a car outside and it keeps circling.&#8217; She didn&#8217;t feel safe,&#8221; Cindy said.<br />
Rondini committed suicide in February 2016, shortly after transferring to a college in Texas.</p>
<h6><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-205472" src="https://konniemoments.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/the-bunn-family-home1.jpg" alt="The Bunn family home1.jpg" width="1040" height="694" /><strong>Bunns impressive family home. He allegedly raped Megan Rondini, a former University of Alabama student who was allegedly raped and later took her own life, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit.</strong></h6>
<p>“Megan was ultimately treated as a crime suspect and her status as a victim of a sex crime was completely disregarded,” the suit reads.<br />
University of Alabama has declined to comment on the specifics of the suit in a statement, but said everyone was “deeply saddened” by Megan’s death. The UA release also states that they are working to raise community awareness and support for victims of sexual assault.<br />
Bunn’s lawyer denied the sexual assault took place all together.<br />
“The allegations against my client as set forth in this baseless lawsuit are simply false,” his statement reads.<br />
The suit does not list any specific monetary damages but does request a court order requiring the local sheriff’s office to provide officers better training and “to provide safe conditions to citizens around criminal investigation.”</p>
</article>
<p> ;</p>
</div>

Parents of alleged rape victim blame University of Alabama, law enforcement for her suicide – Megan Rondini’s parents file suit against school
