HOUSTON – A mother was brought to tears after she says her child with special needs had to be hospitalized because of a school bully.
She says it’s not the first time he was targeted, yet and still school staff nor the Houston Independent School District have done anything to stop it.
13-year-old Daniel Cruz’s mother, Mallory Cruz says he’d been at Patrick Henry Middle School for three to four months and that the bullying started almost immediately. She says Friday, the violence reached its peak when her son was left unresponsive.
“I still have flashbacks about it,” Mallory said.
On Friday, she was called to pick Daniel up from school.
“It frustrates me to pull up to the school and my son’s limp body is just sitting against the cement,” she said.
She says her son who has autism wouldn’t talk or move his eyes.
“And all I saw was just tears coming down his face,” she said.
The condition he was in shook her to her core.
“It was mostly when he was in the ambulance, and I was there with him and I told him to hang on not to leave me. And I told him ‘if you can hear me say something, squeeze me, something’ and he couldn’t, he wouldn’t,” she said.
Daniel thinks back to what he says happened earlier that day.
“A couple of periods passed, I was doing my work as usual, he pocket checked me during my second to last period,” Daniel said.
“What’s that?” KPRC 2′s Deven Clarke asked.
“Made me empty out my pocket,” Daniel replied.
Daniel says the bully who had been harassing him for months despite multiple complaints from his mother, accused him of stealing something. Even though Daniel says he showed the boy he didn’t have anything of his, he says the boy later became violent.
“He comes up behind me and just attacks me,” Daniel said.
Blow after blow, Daniel says the boy aimed for his head as other students egged him on. Daniel says a teacher pulled the boy off, but he can’t remember much after that.
“All I know next as I get to the last step it just goes black,” Daniel said.
After spending hours in the hospital, Daniel was released. As he heals from his injuries, he and his mother say the mental scars are still very painful.
“Now I’m taking legal action, I don’t want to transfer him out of school. I got a lawyer involved, I got a PI working to get information. I want the kid to get held accountable,” Mallory said.
Because of constant headaches, Daniel’s mother says she has to take him to a neurologist. She says she has no idea what if anything HISD is doing to handle this situation. We reached out to HISD which said it is investigating.
HISD sent the following statement:
“We take all allegations of bullying and assault very seriously and the safety and well-being of our students is our top priority. We are currently investigating the matter thoroughly and working closely with the appropriate authorities to ensure that appropriate action is taken. Due to privacy laws and the ongoing investigation, we are unable to provide specific details at this time. However, we want to reassure the community that we are committed to creating a safe and supportive environment for all students.”
If you believe your child is being bullied or is bullying other children, there are resources and information that can help. Click here or here for more information.