HUMBLE, Texas — A grandmother wants several school employees to be fired after she said her non-verbal, special-needs grandson was beaten.
Veda Cavitt has video of the attack and said the employees watched it happen without intervening.
Cavitt, along with several local activists, held a news conference outside Marine Jones Middle School in Aldine, where the incident happened.
They said the attack happened in January.
Cavitt said she took custody of 11-year-old Sekai after his parents died when he was a baby. She said she's now his advocate because he's non-verbal and has autism. She said he has the intellectual ability of a 4- to 5-year-old.
"He is lovable. He is so affectionate. He loves giving hugs and ... just passionate, very, very affectionate," Cavitt said.
Sekai is a sixth-grader at the school. His grandmother said on Jan. 25, he was brutally attacked by another student while administrators stood and watched.
Warning: The details and video associated with this story are graphic. The video has been blurred in order to protect the identity of the juveniles involved in the incident.
In the video, which was released by Cavitt and local advocates on Tuesday, Sekai is seen accidentally bumping into a taller student in line.
The video then shows that student turning around and pushing Sekai to the ground. The other student then starts kicking Sekai when he's down.
When Sekai gets back on his feet, the student is seen in the video punching him until he falls again, the video shows.
One adult is seen tapping the attacking student on the shoulder as Sekai crawls on the ground and is kicked by the student several more times.
"This little boy was three-times smaller than this big kid that was allowed to punch, hit, kick and stump this mother's child," Quanell X said. "How can other special needs mothers send their children back to this school knowing the same paraprofessionals are standing in the same classrooms?"
Cavitt and the local advocates said there were three teacher aids present at the time of the attack.
"Those adults in that video stood there. They did not attempt to help my child get up off the ground. They did not offer him any assistance. They didn't even check to see if he was injured," Cavitt said.
The school district said behavioral interventions have been put into place in lieu of traditional disciplinary actions. In addition, it said the three aides were disciplined according to district protocol. Aldine ISD said it takes these situations seriously because the safety and security of students is its top priority.
Cavitt said that's not enough and she won't rest until more is done.
"I'm still fighting for him every day," she said.
Cavitt said Sekai missed two days of school due to the attack. He's also being evaluated by medical professionals to see what injuries he sustained.
The local union president said the aids are trained on ways to de-escalate these kinds of situations.