After Son's Assault At NKHS, Mother Seeks Answers

The story of what happened to a , after school is chilling, as the boy's mother recounted it.

"He was in the locker room after school when three kids he recognized and four others came in," she said in an interview Thursday. They accused him of turning one of them in for an incident involving marijuana brownies eaten during a school field trip. [Editor's note 5/27/13: It's unclear any of the students were involved in or accused of drug activity.]

"'You're the one that told everyone,'" one of the boys said. They tried to get the 15-year-old to fight, but he wouldn't, said his mom. 

"He'd had visits to the office before, but this time he did exactly what he should have done," his mother said – he didn't take the bait.

In frustration, the boy who'd gotten into trouble after the field trip punched one of the lockers.

Then, suddenly, "another boy sucker-punched [my son] with an upper cut to the left jaw, breaking his jaw in two places," the mother said.

The assailant continued to hit the 15-year-old, bruising his eye socket and temple. Then, somehow, the 15-year-old saw an opening and was able to get away.

"He was staggering," the mother said police told her. 

The injured boy was treated first at South County Hospital, then transferred to Hasbro Children's Hospital when the severity of his injuries was fully realized. He had surgery to repair his jaw; it is wired shut for three more weeks. 

As first, the mom said, her son was afraid to say who hurt him. Eventually he did and he identified two other boys who were there. 

The . School officials would not say if any other students had been disciplined, citing privacy concerns.

For the mother of the injured student, the experience has been shocking.

"I grew up in Providence. I moved to North Kingstown because I wanted a safer place" to live, she said. She praised the NKPD for its handling of the incidence. "The police were right on it."

And she said school officials are "bending over backwards" to get her son what he needs to be able to complete the school year. She has requested home tutoring for the remainder of the school year.

"We're looking at the possibility of future surgeries," she said. They won't know about tooth loss until after the wires have been removed.

She said the most disturbing aspect of the whole thing was that there were several boys there at the time who did nothing to stop the attack.

"I get how intimidating it is for one person," she said, "but as a group ... No one felt empowered enough as a group to say, 'We're not going to stand for this.'

"What could be done to prevent this?" she wondered. "Hopefully somebody will come up with some concrete solutions so this won't happen again."

For other stories about the incident: 

Police Log: Assault At NKHS

Door Used By Davisville MS Suspect Had Faulty Lock