LA County teenager allegedly beaten and harassed by classmates before stabbing arrest

A 14-year-old Tujunga teenager claimed his classmates were attacked and called racial slurs for months before he was arrested following a stabbing at Verdugo Hills High School earlier this time. month.

“Make no mistake about it, this is a case about racism,” attorney Brad Gage said.

Gage shared a video of the 14-year-old being jumped and punched in a school bathroom in late August. He said school officials and the teenager’s mother met after the incident.

“They don’t care,” she said. “They didn’t do anything to the other kid and that’s what I’m most upset about. They just sat there and didn’t know anything.

Attorneys for the 14-year-old said there are very few African-American students at Verdugo Hills. They added that almost from the first day of classes in August, the boy was targeted by Latino students who called him racial slurs, physically assaulted him and threatened to stab him.

“The school wanted to force my child out right after the incident where he was jumped in the bathroom,” said the boy’s mother. “They wanted him to leave the school without giving any disciplinary action to the students who caused the problem themselves. They didn’t do anything, so I said no. My son stays here, he’s fine.”

The mother believes that because nothing was done against her son’s attackers, the situation escalated to what happened on campus on December 9. Gage said it started in the schoolyard, where his client was again thrown to the ground, beaten and called a racist. designation of two students.

“At some point, other people who are part of the group or the gang come and chase our client with a big butcher knife — and try to kill him,” Gage said.

A video shows someone shouting “he has a knife!”

Gage said his client tried to defend himself when two others ended up getting stabbed. They suffered non-life threatening injuries. The 14-year-old was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. He filed a government claim, a precursor to a lawsuit, against Verdugo Hills High School and the district for failing to protect the 14-year-old.

“It’s the school’s lack of action in August and September that led to a stabbing in December,” Gage said.

The Los Angeles Unified School District said in a statement that it does not comment on pending or ongoing litigation.

“My son is a very clever child,” said the mother. “My son was in a situation where he could have been killed. I still feel like he could be killed because he can’t come back over here because of everything that’s been going on.”