D. C. Police: Student dies weeks after classroom attack
A 17-year-old student slated to graduate this spring from a Washington, D. C., high school died on Monday, nearly three weeks after he was attacked in a classroom, D. C. police said.
The student, identified by his family as Joevon Patterson-Smith, was a senior at Ballou High School, WUSA-TV reported .
Patterson-Smith, who had special needs, according to his family, died 19 days after being beaten during a Jan. 10 confrontation at Ballou. Police said he told investigators at the time that he was approached by two classmates who asked to use his mobile phone. When he refused, they struck him „several times about the face and body“ and sprayed him with perfume.
UPDATE: The family has identified the student who died 19 days after an attack inside Ballou HS as Joevon Patterson-Smith. He was 17 years old, set to graduate this year. https://t.co/IP017cN7nA pic.twitter.com/vdJCopfKvJ
Patterson-Smith was hospitalized and released, but he returned to the hospital after suffering seizures, his family said. He was declared brain dead during the second hospitalization, the family told WUSA.
It was not immediately clear on Tuesday if he died as a result of the classroom attack. Police on Tuesday said they had not yet ruled the case a homicide and hadn’t made any arrests. An autopsy was pending.
D. C. schools officials did not immediately comment on the attack or on Patterson-Smith’s death. He ran track and was set to graduate this year, his family said.
Ballou made national news last November when NPR reported that the school allowed dozens of students to graduate in 2017 despite missing weeks of class.
The investigation found that half of the school’s graduates missed more than three months of school. One in five students was absent more than present, NPR found, missing more than 90 out of 180 days of school.
The findings prompted D. C. Mayor Muriel Bowser last month to investigate absentee rates citywide. The results of her probe, released Monday, showed that about one in three D. C. students graduated last year in violation of district attendance policies.
Follow Greg Toppo on Twitter: @gtoppo
