A Plano mother is pushing for a hate crime investigation after she says her 13-year-old son was the victim of racist bullying and abuse from fellow students at his middle school.
Summer Smith reported the incident to administrators at Haggard Middle School after she says she learned that her son, who is Black, was called racist slurs, beaten and made to drink his white classmates’ urine during a recent sleepover.
Smith posted videos, which have since gone viral on social media, of the alleged abuse. A petition in support of her son has garnered tens of thousands of signatures, and she has raised more than $10,000 on GoFundMe to help her son get therapy.
Mother of black middle schooler slams premeditated assault on her son, 13, after videos shows his white peers forcing him to drink urine during sleepover
SeMarion Humphrey s mother - Summer Smith - said that she found out about the incident two weeks after it took place over the weekend of Feb. 14
The eighth grader was in attendance for Friday s press conference, occasionally needing to be consoled as he wept over the bullying
A school resource officer at Haggard Middle School began investigating the incident on March 3 after receiving a call from the boy s family
The school resource officer is working with a juvenile detective on the case
Family-violence charge against activist Dominique Alexander is dismissed
Next Generation Action Network, an activism organization Alexander founded, said in a prepared statement that Alexander was “finally able to clear his name.”
Dominique Alexander speaks during a news conference Monday in Dallas.(Lawrence Jenkins / Special Contributor)
Revised to include details from a news conference.
A family-violence charge against Dallas activist Dominique Alexander has been dismissed, his organization, Next Generation Action Network, announced Monday.
Alexander was indicted in 2019 on a felony charge of continuous violence against the family. Dallas County court records show the case was dismissed Friday.
Alexander had denied the allegations, saying at the time that the indictment had “no merit.”
He was charged with one felony and one misdemeanor after he was accused of shoving and attempting to strangle his former partner, Keyaira Saunders, the Dallas Morning News reported.
According to the Dallas Morning News, Saunders signed an affidavit saying she would not testify or participate in the case, adding that she felt betrayed by the way the Dallas Police Department handled it.
As an activist in Dallas, 31-year-old Alexander speaks on behalf of families of victims of violence and has been a leader of protests in the city.
Alexander organized protests denouncing the shooting of Botham Jean by Amber Guyger, and he participated in protests in Dallas over police brutality in summer 2020, the Dallas Morning News reported.
Dentist Michelle Morgan bought the old building in 2016 in the neighborhood where she grew up.
“The vision is to bring the building back to life but make it a class A medical facility,” she said. “I bring my profession and I also bring my love and obligation as a successful person back to my neighborhood.”
COVID-19 and other complications delayed progress but Morgan said she hoped to have the project completed in about a year.
She has attracted supporters, included retired nurse Barbara Thompson, who also grew up in the neighborhood.
“I really think that this building can be restored to what it used to be and even better simply because of all the innovation that’s going on now,” Thompson said.