MOUNT VERNON, N.Y. – Gloria Simmons and her son, Ishmael Ben-Reuben, filed a lawsuit against the Mount Vernon school district and four staff members for negligence and false imprisonment. Ben-Reuben’s skull was fractured at school after his father – a school custodian – disciplined him for getting into a fight.
Dietrick McElveen, who fractured his 12-year-old son’s skull, pleaded guilty to third-degree assault and was sentence to three years probation, fined $200 and ordered to stay away from his son, according to The Journal News.
Simmons’s lawsuit claims that Ralph Burts, Murdisia Orr and Sharon Lewis, employees of the Davis Middle School, allowed McElveen to abuse his son and did not report the incident to police.
McElveen no longer works for the district. Burts, an assistant principal, was arrested and then later reassigned to Thornton High School.
