Black boy charged with assault after schoolyard game of dodgeball
A boy who was playing a game with his friends is now facing criminal charges after the mother of another child accused him of targeting the kid and causing injury
A 10-year-old African American boy in suburban Detroit will have to fight an assault case after a game in school where another student was injured.
Cameishi Lindley said she was startled when she received a call from Wayne County Juvenile Court last Wednesday and learned her son, Bryce, had been charged with aggravated assault for reportedly hitting another boy in the face with a ball at their school in Canton, Mich., according to local station WXYZ.
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Lindley said it was an accident during a game that is very similar to dodgeball, only in this game the children throw the balls in the air.
“These kids are basically playing a game we all have played,” Lindley told the station.
The incident happened on April 29th at Ruth Eriksson Elementary in Canton, and the boy struck in the face with the ball was injured. According to the injured boy’s mom, her son, whom she declined to name, has a medical condition that makes these type of head injuries particularly harmful.
According to a police report following the incident, the mom alleges that Bryce intentionally threw the ball at the boy’s face.
“He sustained … damage to his face. He had a black eye and a bruised nose,” she told WXYZ 7.
He also suffered a concussion, according to medical records.
Bryce was suspended from school for one day following the incident. Lindley thinks that’s where the punishment should stop.
“This is a kid that was playing on the playground with his friends,” Lindley told the news outlet.
But the injured boy’s mom said this isn’t the first time Bryce has thrown a ball at her son and that she attempted to intervene earlier by reporting it to school officials.
“I tried not to let it get to this point,” she told 7 Action News. “My son was hit twice in the face with a ball previously due to this. The child apologized to my son and my son said ‘mom it’s okay we’re still going to be friends’.”
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She said the April 29th incident was the last straw for her.
For her part, Lindley said she is unaware of the earlier incidents and apologized to the mom.
“I’m sorry that her child got hurt. I’d be sorry for any child that got hurt,” she said.
She also said her son was not aware of the other student’s medical condition and she questioned why he was playing this game to begin with.
On Aug. 1, a Juvenile Court judge will set a pre-trial conference.
Lindley has posted a fundraiser on Facebook to help her pay her son’s $4,000 legal expenses.
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