A Marcus High School football player's family is suing four teammates, their parents and Lewisville Independent School District for more than $1 million. The Denton County civil lawsuit alleges an October 2025 hazing left the then-16-year-old stripped, restrained and shot with a pellet gun at a team dinner.

The suit, first reported by NBC DFW, alleges assault and battery, hazing, negligent supervision by the parents and a Title IX violation by the district. It cites about $300,000 in losses.

What the lawsuit alleges

The incident occurred Oct. 22, 2025, at an off-campus offensive line team dinner hosted at a home in Double Oak, according to Cross Timbers Gazette reporting from December 2025. The lawsuit states teammates forcibly stripped the student to his undergarments and shot him with a CO2-powered pellet gun. Metal pellets broke the skin in five places, according to the suit.

The victim was also called a racial slur during the incident, the Cross Timbers Gazette reported. A video was later posted on social media.

Doug Turner, the victim's father, told NBC DFW his son believed the weapon was real. "He thought it was a real gun. He thought it was a 9MM, and when they started pointing it at him, it didn't look like a toy gun," Turner said.

Criminal charges and sentencing

Four teens were charged with hazing. Two also faced assault causing bodily injury charges. All were misdemeanors.

Francisco Adams, 18, of Flower Mound, one of the four charged teens, was sentenced to 14 months of probation on Aug. 6 after entering two no-contest pleas in Denton County court, the Cross Timbers Gazette reported. The victim read an impact statement to Adams at the hearing.

Eric Love, the private investigator hired by the victim's family, told NBC DFW in August that three additional students were expected to enter pleas in the coming weeks. The status of those pleas is not confirmed in available records.

Turner criticized how the criminal case was handled. In a statement to the Cross Timbers Gazette after the Adams sentencing, he said his family was "deeply shaken" and that they believed "critical investigative steps were missed" by the Double Oak Police Department, LISD and the District Attorney's Office.

LISD's response and the Title IX claim

LISD conducted its own investigation after the incident, interviewing more than 70 students and more than 20 staff members. The district found the incident met its board policy definitions of hazing and bullying and said appropriate disciplinary consequences were issued. It did not disclose what those consequences were.

The investigation found a history of hazing among a small group of players within the Marcus varsity football program. The district said it did not find systemic hazing across the entire program.

LISD ordered corrective actions: all parent-organized team dinners must now occur on campus with staff supervision, locker room oversight was enhanced, and students and staff received additional anti-hazing training.

The civil lawsuit's Title IX claim targets the district specifically. The precise legal theory behind that claim is not detailed in available reporting.

LISD said Monday, Oct. 5, that it cannot comment on pending litigation.

Impact on the student

Turner said his son's nightmares have not stopped. The student quit football after the incident and has not returned to athletics. His senior year includes no football, baseball or athletics of any kind, Turner said.

The student's parents first reported the incident to Marcus High School leadership and coaches on Oct. 27, 2025, five days after it occurred. They learned about it when the video surfaced on social media.

No next court date or response deadline for the civil lawsuit has been announced.