HOUSTON — The Houston Independent School District is sharing new details on the circumstances surrounding the death of a Marshall Middle School student.
14-year-old Landon Payton died after suffering what was described as a medical emergency in the gym of the school.
On Saturday, HISD sent a statement saying, in part, "We have been careful not to release partial information or speculation out of respect for the privacy of the student and his family, and also to ensure accuracy."
The details released reflect the limitations of state and federal laws, according to the district.
In their update Saturday, HISD said Landon experienced a medical emergency in front of the P.E. teacher and special education assistant teacher in the gym. Before this incident, the district said teachers did not have any indications the child was not feeling well.
The district said students in P.E. class had been engaging in light physical activity for most of the period and were in "free play" for the last part of the period when Landon suffered the medical emergency.
The teachers "acted immediately," radioed for the school nurse and called 911, according to HISD.
Students were asked to sit down while the staff cared for Landon and then they were released from the gym shortly after
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The district said it has not been provided with a cause of death from medical officials.
The nurse who provided medical assistance to Landon is a registered nurse with an active license, according to the district. The release also said prior to starting with HISD in Feb. 2024, she worked on staff at Harris Health System for 30 years, including service as a cardiac and pulmonary surgery nurse.
HISD said the temperature reading in the gym "immediately" after the incident was 72 degrees. The school administration did not raise temperature concerns for any part of the building during the day, according to the district.
The district said all information regarding this tragedy are preliminary and said it awaits "further information to fully understand what happened, specifically Landon’s cause of death as determined by a medical professional."
"What we have been able to gather, we believe the staff and EMS responded quickly and appropriately. We believe they did everything they could and cared for Landon in a way that any parent would want his or her child cared for in an emergency," HISD officials said.
HISD said it will share more information as it becomes available.
Father's frustration continues after meeting with HISD about son's sudden death
On Friday, we spoke again with Alexis Payton, who expressed frustration over a meeting he had with HISD leaders. He said they wouldn't answer his questions about what happened leading up to Landon's death. He also said the district showed him police body camera footage but it only showed the end of the incident.
"I was there at the end, I saw my son die," Alexis told us. "All I want is closure. They don't even wanna give me closure. We gotta go through the courts."