A Canton, Mich. family is in shock after a 10-year-old boy was charged with aggravated assault after apparently hitting a schoolmate with a ball during a game reminiscent of dodgeball.
According to WXYZ, Cameishi Lindley couldn’t believe it when she got a call from the Wayne County Juvenile Court last week about her son, Bryce.
“These kids are basically playing a game we all have played,” Lindley told the news station.
The incident apparently took place around April 29th at Ruth Eriksson Elementary. The students were playing a game that was kind of like dodgeball, but instead, they threw the balls into the air.
A police report claimed that Bryce purposely tossed a ball into another boy’s face. That student’s mother, who didn’t want her name or her son’s name to be used, told the news station that he has a medical condition that makes head injuries especially dangerous.
The then-fourth grader reportedly sustained a concussion during the game.
“He sustained facial tissue damage to his face. He had a black eye and a bruised nose,” the other parent said.
Lindley, however, is still in disbelief, since Bryce is now facing charges as a soon-to-be fifth grader.
Bryce had been suspended from school for a day following the incident, which she thinks was sufficient.
“This is a kid that was playing on the playground with his friends,” Lindley said.
The other boy’s mother told the news station that she “tried not to let it get to this point.”
The other child’s mother claimed that her son has been targeted before for incidents that she reported to school in mid-April prior to the incident with the game.
“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’,” she said.
However, the incident with the game ultimately made her worried about her child’s safety.
Lindley said she was not aware of any of the other incidents and wishes that the entire resolution could be handled in the classroom and not from a courtroom.
“I am unaware of any of those situations,” Lindley said. “I’m sorry that her child got hurt. I’d be sorry for any child that got hurt.”
Lindley added that neither she nor her son knew about the other child’s medical condition.
“The Principal disclosed that the injured student has a pre-existing condition, ‘Chronic brain stem infliction…’ Clearly, this student should not have been playing a physical contact sport,” she wrote in a Facebook fundraiser detailing the incident.
The Facebook fundraiser was created to help with Bryce’s attorney fees, which cost $4,000. Some 391 people donated more than $10,000 over the past 6 days.
Many commenters offered words of encouragement to the mother.
Bryce’s case is set to go before a juvenile court judge on Aug. 1 for a pre-trial conference, WXYZ reports.