Black teen's leg amputated after school employee repeatedly body slams him and sends him home on bus
A black Georgia teenager lost his leg about a month after a behavioral specialist working at his school threw him to the floor multiple times and then denied him medical treatment.
The 13-year-old student underwent amputation Tuesday, five weeks after the specialist -- identified as Bryant Mosley -- slammed him to the ground Sept. 12 at an alternative school in Muscogee County, reported the Ledger-Enquirer.
The boy, identified as Montravious Thomas, was enrolled in the school district's AIM program after he was temporarily removed from East Columbus Middle School for unspecified violations of behavior rules.
His attorney said the boy was leaving his classroom for the main office, where he planned to call his mother for a ride, on his first day at the school when Mosley stopped him for an unknown reason and threw the teen to the ground up to three times to stop him from walking out.
Assistant Principal Eddie Powell reportedly witnessed the incident at some point, the attorney said, and an "inside source" told her the school had videotape of the incident.
A school resource officer saw the boy limping afterward but failed to assist him or immediately file a report, and school officials told the student they would call an ambulance after he reported numbness in his leg -- but they apparently decided not to do so.
Instead, Mosley carried the teen to the school bus and sent the boy home without notifying his family of possible injuries.
“They placed an injured student on the school bus,” said attorney Renee Tucker. “We don’t know the extent that the injuries were worsened by the failure to render aid and certainly by picking him up and seating him on the school bus. Then they had him ride in that same school bus home without any support or stabilization of that leg.”
The boy continued to suffer complications from his injury, and doctors informed him over the weekend that amputation was necessary.
His mother lost her job with a temporary agency because she spent so much time with her son as he was treated for his injuries, Tucker said.
The attorney submitted an open records request Sept. 26 to the school board seeking video footage and more than 50 documents related to the incident, including personnel records and district rules.
Tucker has not yet received those records, but she has notified the Muscogee County School District that the boy and his family intend to file a $5 million lawsuit.
The school district's attorney declined comment, but a spokeswoman for the school board offered her "thoughts and prayers" to the boy and his family and promised a thorough investigation of the incident.
The spokeswoman told the Ledger-Enquirer that Mosley was not a school employee but instead worked for Mentoring and Behavioral Services, which specializes in "holistic behavior approaches" to student discipline.
Mosley is no longer providing services for the school district, but the spokeswoman declined to say when that decision was made.
Watch this video report posted online by WTVM-TV:
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