By Vanguard Staff
PLACERVILLE, CA — Nearly seven years after 13-year-old Max Benson died following a prolonged prone restraint at a non-public school in El Dorado Hills, those convicted in connection with his death are set to be sentenced next month.
Sentencing and the reading of a victim impact statement are scheduled for Monday, June 16, 2025, at 1:30 p.m. in El Dorado County Superior Court on Main Street in Placerville. The hearing marks the latest chapter in a case that has drawn widespread local, state, and national attention—and that has galvanized disability rights advocates and the autism community.
Max, a student with autism, died in November 2018 after staff at Guiding Hands School (GHS) forcibly held him face-down for more than 90 minutes. Witnesses and official accounts say Max repeatedly begged to be allowed up, and that staff continued the restraint even after he vomited and urinated on himself. When Max became unresponsive, staff delayed seeking medical care. He was transported to UC Davis Medical Center, where he died two days later. He had just turned 13.
The Davis Joint Unified School District had placed Max at GHS just months before his death.
In the aftermath, the California Department of Education suspended the school’s certification, and GHS closed in 2019. A new non-public school, Point Quest, later opened at the same site and employs several former GHS staff members.
In 2022, GHS teacher Kimberly Wohlwend and administrators Cindy Keller and Staranne Meyers were indicted by a grand jury. Wohlwend, the staff member primarily responsible for restraining Max, was charged with felony involuntary manslaughter. Keller and Meyers faced charges of child abuse and failure to seek timely medical assistance.
In May 2025, after numerous delays in the criminal proceedings, Wohlwend pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter. Keller and Meyers entered no-contest pleas to misdemeanor child abuse. None of the defendants are expected to serve jail time.
The plea deals have sparked outrage from members of the community and advocates for people with disabilities who believe the outcome fails to deliver accountability for a child’s preventable death.
“This doesn’t feel like justice,” said one close family friend and fellow parent of an autistic young adult. “The people responsible for this horrific act will walk free, while Max’s family must live with this loss—and the reality of what Max endured—for the rest of their lives.”
Max’s mother, Stacia Langley, and grandfather, Charles Langley, are expected to deliver victim impact statements during the June 16 sentencing hearing.
In the wake of Max’s death, lawmakers responded. In 2024, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 483, formally named Max Benson’s Law, which prohibits the use of prone restraints on students in all California schools. The bill, authored by Sen. Dave Cortese (D-San Jose), was championed by Max’s family, who hoped to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
“Through SB 483, we will now able to protect our children and youth from becoming victims of deadly practices such as prone restraint within our schools. More than 21 states across our nation have already banned this archaic practice and it was about time California did the same. Simply put, prone restraints have no place in our classrooms,” said Senator Cortese.
Grand jury transcripts from the original indictment—minus the testimony of minor students—remain available to the public and contain extensive documentation of the events leading to Max’s death.
Max Benson’s story has been widely covered in regional and national outlets, including The Sacramento Bee and People magazine. Reporters and advocates hope that the public will remain engaged as the case nears its legal conclusion, and that the final hearing provides a platform for Max’s family and community to be heard.
