Harrison County mother alleges teacher assaulted her six-year-old daughter
HARRISON COUNTY, Miss. (WLOX) - A mother of a kindergarten student at Crossroads Elementary is looking to press charges after she said her daughter was physically assaulted by a teacher.
More than a week after the alleged attack, the mother said she hasn’t gotten answers from the Harrison County School District despite multiple attempts.
”I was just crying and hollering and I didn’t want to put my face up because I was sad,” said Shaniqua Willis.
Six-year-old Za’Niya Braxton wants to go back to school but her mother, Shaniqua, won’t let her. Willis said her daughter was attacked by a teacher in the hallway at Crossroads Elementary leaving visible injuries.
“I was ready to you know, like, I was ready to go and hurt somebody,” said Shaniqua. “I was just panicking, I started crying and called my family members to tell them what was going on.”
Willis said when her daughter got home from school, she immediately told her what happened.
“She was squeezing my arms hard and spinning me around in circles in the hallway. I kept on crying,” said Za’Niya.
Za’Niya described to her mother how the teacher allegedly assaulted her.
“She said the lady was grabbing her arms like this,” said Willis. “You can tell that the lady was putting her nails into her skin. And she said the lady was spinning her around in a circle, making her fall on the floor. She was crying and the lady was grabbing her face like this.”
Za’Niya’s mother said because it wasn’t her daughter’s usual teacher she’s been unable to identify the woman preventing her from pressing charges.
“I talked to the superintendent and he told me that they would suspend her for a couple of days without pay. I told him that isn’t enough,” she said. “He asked me what I wanted him to do and I told him that I prefer she’s fired and he told me that he can’t do that.”
Harrison County School District Superintendent Mitchell King issued this statement:
“We are following the administrative investigation process in accordance with the policies and procedures of the Harrison County School District.”
The kindergartener’s mother told WLOX News she contacted the principal at Crossroads Elementary to view a video of the alleged incident.
“The principal was apologizing and telling me she didn’t know what was going on,” she said. “I asked her if she could at least give me the video and at least let me know who the teacher was. She told me she couldn’t give me any of that information.”
Nine days later, and Za’Niya has not returned to school.
“I’m nervous as a parent because I don’t know what’s going to happen to her when she does go to school.”
Willis reported the incident to the Harrison County Sheriff’s Department.
She said a school resource officer visited her home Tuesday and told her the teacher could possibly be charged with simple assault of a minor. He did not, however, release the name of the teacher.
We’ll keep you updated as the investigation unfolds.
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