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A Woodlawn High School student said she is walking the halls with her convicted attacker.
Morgan, whose last name is being withheld by FOX45 News, is a senior at Woodlawn High, In just a few months, she’s set to graduate. Afterward, Morgan plans to study business at Morgan State University.
Morgan State has been Morgan’s dream for years.
“I want to become an entrepreneur,” Morgan said.
But on Oct. 2, while sitting in math class, the 18-year-old was attacked by another student whom Morgan said she barely knew.
“She got up and just started hitting me. She pulled my hair and everything,” Morgan explained. “I remember feeling like a turtle, like in a shell kind of position.”
Morgan said she doesn’t remember much from the attack, including the moment when a chunk of hair was ripped out of her scalp. After the attack, a video was posted online. Morgan said the person in the video was the student who attacked her. And in the video, the student is seen holding Morgan’s hair.
“I just feel like nobody was there to protect me,” said Morgan.
Medical records show that as a result of the attack, Morgan suffered a concussion. An MRI found she also sustained optic nerve swelling. Morgan still takes medication for severe headaches. Her family said they have paid more than $6,000 in medical bills.
“This was a total blindsided attack,” stated Morgan’s mother, Ta’Rae Little. “The kids are fighting. They’re being attacked, being stomped in the head. Being hit in the head. I mean, these are really violent attacks that are going on at the school.”
On Oct. 10, eight days after the attack, Little filed a “bullying, harassment or intimidation investigation form” with Woodlawn High. She said she never heard back. And according to Little, the school never contacted police even though the family requested charges be filed. According to Morgan’s family, her attacker was suspended for 10 days. But afterward, the student wasn’t just back in school — the family says she was back in the same classroom with Morgan.
“I don’t want to go to school,” said Morgan. “I don’t trust anybody.”
Little said: “I think that they don’t care. And it’s been so many incidents where they’re overwhelmed, and you have these people in these positions who don’t have a clue on what to do.”
So the family took matters into their own hands and filed criminal charges. And on Feb. 11, the attacker was convicted of second-degree assault in a Baltimore County Juvenile Courtroom. According to confidential court documents FOX45 News obtained, she was ordered “to have no unlawful or illegal contact with Morgan.”
Now, despite a second-degree assault conviction, the student is still at Woodlawn High with Morgan, who said she doesn’t feel safe there.
According to state data, over the past three school years, Woodlawn has seen a 77% increase in student suspensions or expulsions for attacks/threats or fighting.
In early February, FOX45 obtained video of a fight in Woodlawn’s cafeteria.
In response to seeing the video, Ryan Coleman, the president of the Randallstown Chapter of the NAACP, is now calling on Baltimore County Public Schools to remove students with a history of violence from the school.
“I think that if you’re going to disrupt other students from learning, then you don’t need to be there,” Coleman said.
BCPS declined an interview but said in a statement that Woodlawn High: “Followed all applicable system procedures and policies” in this investigation. And the school “worked swiftly to address reported concerns, including reports of bullying and harassment.” The school system added that Woodlawn “has worked directly with the impacted families and remains committed to working with all members of its school community to ensure all students reach their highest potential.”
Asked why she continues to send her daughter to the school, Little replied: “I’m just trying to hold on, to be honest because she a senior. So she’ll be done pretty much in May.”
Morgan told FOX45 she is excited to graduate and move on to Morgan State.
“I try to think positive as much as possible,” said Morgan. “I honestly feel like the school or school district in general just needs to do better.”
Have a news tip? Contact FOX45 reporter Chris Papst at cjpapst@sbgtv.com.