LA County teen allegedly beaten and harassed by classmates before stabbing arrest
A 14-year-old teen from Tujunga claimed his classmates attacked and called racial slurs for months before he was arrested after a stabbing at Verdugo Hills High School earlier this month.
"Make no mistake about it, this is a case of racism," attorney Brad Gage said.
Gage shared a video of the 14-year-old getting jumped and punched in a school bathroom in late August. He said school officials and the teen's mom met after the incident.
"They don't care," she said. "They didn't do nothing to the other kid and that's what I'm most upset about. They just sat there and id nothing.
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 class in August, the boy was targeted by Latino students who called him racial slurs, physically attacked him and threatened to stab him.
"The school wanted to force my child out right after the incident of him being jumped in the bathroom," the boy's mother said. "They wanted him to leave the school without giving any disciplinary action towards the students who caused the problem itself. They didn't do anything, so I said no. My son is going to stay here, he's doing well."
The mom believes because nothing was done to her son's attackers, the situation escalated to what happened on campus on Dec. 9. Gage said it started in the schoolyard yard where his client was, again, thrown to the ground, punched and called a racial epithet by two students.
"At some point, others that are part of the group or gang; they come and chase our client with a big butcher knife — trying to kill him," Gage said.
A video shows someone shouting "he's got a knife!"
Gage said his client was trying 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 failure to act properly in August and September that led to a stabbing in December," Gage said.
Los Angeles Unified School District said in a statement they do not comment on pending or ongoing litigation.
"My son is a good smart kid," the mother said. "My son was in a situation where he could've been killed. I still feel like he can be killed because he can't come back over here because of everything that's been going on."
