4 charged in beating of student

March 31, 2006

BY ROSALIND ROSSI AND MAUDLYNE IHEJIRIKA Staff Reporters
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Four Kennedy High School students were charged Thursday in an assault on a Kennedy senior who was pummeled in the school auditorium in front of scores of students and who, witnesses said, was attacked with feces later found strewn across the auditorium floor.

Teachers and students were horrified by the incident, which left the victim, an 18-year-old honor student, with a broken nose, two black eyes, abrasions on both eyes and a swollen cheek, according to his father.

"For these [attackers] to do what they did is beyond disgusting,'' said one teacher who asked for anonymity. "No kid should go through what this young man went through. ... I've never seen anything like this.''

Police on Thursday charged the four alleged attackers with simple battery, a misdemeanor, although Chicago Police Department spokeswoman Monique Bond said the Cook County state's attorney's office could upgrade charges.

Charged were two 16-year-old juveniles, as well as Donnell Quante Little, 18, of the 4500 block of South Lavergne, and Quinten McKenney, 17, of the 4400 block of South Leamington, Bond said.

All four were suspended for 10 days and face expulsion, said Chicago Public Schools spokesman Michael Vaughn.

Dad sees videotape

The victim's father said he is pulling his son out of Kennedy.

"He said, 'Dad, please, I don't want to go back there. I'm afraid. I don't need this. I want to go to another school and finish up,'" said the teen's father, who requested anonymity for his son.

The father said eight to 10 kids pounced on his son "like a gang of wolves'' Wednesday. He was treated at a hospital for a broken nose and other injuries, and by Thursday, he looked like a cross between "Jake La Motta and Rocky,'' the father said.

School cameras captured part of the attack, and the father said police played the videotape for him at the school Thursday.

Bond said police reports described a fight and broken nose but did not mention feces as part of the attack shortly before 10 a.m. Wednesday at Kennedy, 6325 W. 56th.

Vaughn confirmed that "what appeared to be human feces was found on the floor'' but said Kennedy's disciplinarian insisted Thursday that "nobody has reported to him that they came in contact'' with any.

However, two students told the Chicago Sun-Times they saw feces thrown during the attack.

Two teachers who tried to break up the fight were smeared with feces, witnesses said, and a third walked into her classroom afterward with "mess on her shoes,'' a student said.

The incident began after the victim emerged from the boys' gym, where all male students had been held for 2-1/2 hours Wednesday during a metal detector search.

"When he walked out of the gym ... he was attacked by three kids,'' the father said. "They punched him -- one shot each in the face.''

The victim then ran into the auditorium to join more than 200 classmates at an extended, weekly "senior hall'' division class in which honor students were supposed to be rewarded with free tickets to an upcoming dance, teachers said.

Behind him, a gang of students burst through in hot pursuit, witnesses told the Sun-Times.

The attackers "were yelling, 'Kick his ass, get him,' '' one teacher said. They pummeled the victim to the ground as scores of his fellow seniors got up and encircled the group to watch the fight, witnesses said.

Violent incidents up 56 percent

Not only was the victim punched, said senior Jesus Feliz, but "they were throwing feces on this kid. It was just sick. It was the craziest thing I've ever seen.''

Chicago Teachers Union President Marilyn Stewart called the incident "vile and inexplicable,'' saying it "confirms what the union, parents and the community at large have been saying about concerns of lack of safety for the children and staff in these high schools.''

Just last week, a Kennedy student was disciplined for hiding a loaded gun in the bushes outside the school. Several teachers said daily fights are not unusual.

Systemwide so far this school year, reported violent incidents in high schools are down 3 percent, but at Kennedy, they are up 56 percent, CPS data indicated.

"The fights have definitely increased this year,'' said junior Jasmin Rodriguez.

Several kids and teachers blamed the uptick on 190 new students who have transferred into Kennedy since October. And, teachers said, the instability caused by three different principals in 2-1/2 years has made controlling violence more difficult.

However, Vaughn said, the 28 reported violent incidents through Jan. 31 are "still a relatively small number of incidents given the large number of students -- 1,600.''

Contributing: Art Golab

http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-disgust31.html