Parents at a Miami-area middle school where a 14-year-old honors student was killed in a bathroom yesterday faulted the school for not communicating with them about what happened, the Miami Herald reports. The boy’s throat apparently was cut by a classmate. A fellow eighth grader was charged with murder.
At first, authorities believed the case may have been a suicide. When they realized it was a murder, the school “went into a code-red lockdown,” said an official. No one could recall a previous homicide in a Miami-Dade public school.
Teachers in the school barred students from using cellphones to call their parents. “Why won’t they tell us anything? My God! Tell us something!” said Trenika Simmons, whose son attends Southwood.
“The school’s not even answering,” said Lazaro Amador, his cellphone’s earpiece dangling. “I let it ring 50 times, and no one picked up.”
The victim was discovered at 8:30 a.m. Shortly after noon, police told parents not to worry because the victim’s parents had been notified. Many would not relax until they could put a hand on their child. “If they let it leak there was a murder, these parents are going to go berserk,” said Douglas Ede, whose 12-year-old son attends Southwood. Two parents said their children were the ones to discover the victim’s bleeding body and report it to teachers, only to be sent back to their classrooms for the rest of the day. “We were not even notified,” said one of those parents, Terry Dunn. “We found out when I saw my child being interviewed by Channel 7.”