Fla. Student Brutally Beaten for Sending Text

DEERFIELD BEACH, Fla.
Published: March 22, 2010

A 15-year-old Deerfield Middle School student remains in critical condition and in a medically induced coma after a teenage boy viciously attacked her on campus March 17.

Wayne Treacy, 15, and his girlfriend Kayla Manson, 13, are being held in a juvenile detention center in connection with the attack on Josie Lou Ratley, according to The Palm Beach Post. Police said the incident sparked after Ratley, a friend of Manson, sent text messages to Treacy, expressing her disapproval of his and Manson’s relationship. Additionally, police report that Ratley made a “disparaging” reference to the October suicide of Treacy’s brother. (Article continues below.

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The remark enraged Treacy, who put on steel-toed boots and texted friends that he was going to kill Ratley. Upon his arrival at the school, Manson pointed the victim out, knowing Treacy’s harmful intentions.

Treacy has been charged with attempted murder, while Manson has been charged with one count of accessory to attempted murder.

During an interview with NBC’s Today Show, Ratley’s mother and aunt questioned the safety at the school, saying that during the attack, neither security officers nor teachers were present.

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