Principals, Bus Driver ignored pleas for help from gay student being beat with metal pipe

FreeState

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Thu Nov-19-09 03:09 PM
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Principals, Bus Driver ignored pleas for help from gay student being beat with metal pipe

http://www.khou.com/home/Student-allegedly-chased-beat-with-metal-pipe-says-school-administrators-did-nothing-to-help-70430507.html

HOUSTON -- A Langham Creek High School freshman who said he's the victim of a hate crime is speaking out.
Jayron Martin said he begged two principals at his school and his bus driver for help before he was hit repeatedly with a metal pipe.

Martin said the help never came. He said it took a neighbor with a shotgun to stop the beating.

�They didn�t do anything,� said Martin. �They never called me down or nothing.�

The attack happened after school November 12, near the 6100 block of Langham Mist Lane.

According to the 16-year-old, the attack took place off campus. He said a fellow student beat him after school while eight others stood around and watched. Martin believes he was beaten because he�s gay.

�All they kept saying was, �We going to get you. We going to fight you,� and all that and so when they started coming after me they were like, �You�re not going to be gay anymore.� They just kept hitting me,� he said.

Hours before the incident, Martin said a friend told him a group was planning to attack him. The teen said he talked with two administrators about his concerns. The administrators took a written statement from him, said Martin.

�I sat down in the cafeteria and I started writing the letter and so then I handed it to them and they said, �We are going to call y�all down and stuff like that,�� he said.

Martin said he was never called to the office, and the administrator didn�t call his mother.

At the end of the school day, Martin said he rode the bus home. The group threatening Martin was riding the same bus. Martin said he told his bus driver, but nothing happened. The teen said the group ran after him as he got off the bus.

�You don�t understand, I was just running for my life and nobody was like there at all. Nobody was doing anything for me,� said Martin.

Martin said the group chased him, and he ran into one of his neighbors' home. While there, Martin said, one of the teens beat him for seven minutes with a pipe. He said the attack didn�t stop until the man who lives in that home came downstairs.

�Then the man came down with his shotgun and he was like, �Y�all need to stop. Y�all need to stop,� And the boy wouldn�t stop and he just kept hitting me and hitting me and so he cocked his gun and that�s when he ran out,� Martin said.

Harris County Sheriff�s Office deputies arrested the 16-year-old who beat Martin. The accused teen is facing aggravated assault charges. His case is in the juvenile court system, and those records are sealed.

No other arrests have been made at this time.

On Wednesday, Cy-Fair School District officials said they have launched an investigation. They said they have placed Martin�s bus driver on administrative leave with pay pending the outcome of the investigation. The district is also reviewing the actions of an assistant principal.

�I�m disgusted,� said the teen's mother Lakenya Martin. �I�m sorry, after the fact doesn�t do it. The school district let us down. I mean, let all of us down because it could have been anyone�s kid.�

The Cy-Fair mother said she wants to move away from the neighborhood and out of the school district.

�When the child does what they�re supposed to do and the adult doesn�t, what are you supposed to say then? How do you make him feel comfortable? How do you give him back that sense of security,� she said.

Martin suffered a concussion. He also has cuts and bruises on his arms and hands, and said he does not want to return to school.

Meanwhile, the Martin family has retained an attorney and is considering a civil lawsuit.