MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – An 18-year-old student was arrested Thursday after he repeatedly punched a teacher at his school, authorities said, but the student’s mother told a Miami-Dade County judge Friday that the teacher was the one who put her hands on her son first.
According to the student’s arrest report, the incident occurred just before 9 a.m. at Miami Northwestern Senior High School, located at 1100 NW Seventh St.
Miami-Dade Schools Police reported that Conley Williams punched teacher Reewa Hill twice in the chest and once in her left arm.
According to the report, Williams spoke to officers after the incident, however his statement was redacted from the publicly released report.
Multiple witnesses corroborated the teacher’s statements to police, authorities said.
According to the report, Hill left campus after the incident to seek medical treatment as Williams was arrested on a charge of battery on a school official.
A motive for the alleged attack was not stated in the arrest report.
Williams’ mother and grandmother appeared in bond court Friday, as Judge Mindy Glazer went over the allegations against the student.
“You need to be respectful to your teachers and keep your hands to yourself if you want to have the benefit of getting your education and graduating high school,” Glazer told Williams.
Williams’ mother and grandmother then addressed the judge, telling her that Williams is a special needs student at the school and the teachers who deal with him are aware of how he might react in certain situations.
“I don’t understand why the teacher wasn’t arrested because the teacher grabbed him first and he responded,” Williams’ mother, Darcheema Pierce, told Glazer.
His grandmother added that the school has it written in his IEP that “if he spaz(zes) out, that’s how he reacts.”
Pierce later spoke to Local 10 News and said the teacher and her son had been clashing for years.
She said the incident started when the teacher scolded her son for not greeting her.
“Because he didn’t tell her good morning,” Pierce said. “He said he wen tto the class to speak to some people and the teacher grabbed him by his arm and he turned around and grabbed the teacher.”
Glazer acknowledged that she wasn’t there to witness what occurred, but ultimately told Williams’ mother and grandmother that they needed to take their concerns up with the school.
In the end, Glazer ordered that Williams be granted pre-trial release, which means his family will not have to pay the $5,000 bond for him to be released. Still, he must stay away from his teacher and is not allowed to have any contact with her.
Glazer warned that if he gets arrested again for any crime, he would remain jailed until his trial.
The school district released the following statement Friday on Williams’ arrest:
“Miami-Dade County Public Schools is aware of an arrest of a Miami Northwestern Senior High School student for their involvement in an altercation with a school employee. This District goes to great lengths to promote our core values such as respect and responsibility and we ask that parents help to reinforce these principles at home.”