An Odessa High School sophomore accused of stabbing a fellow student Wednesday will remain in the Ector County Youth Center for at least another 10 days as will a Bowie Middle School student accused of attacking one of his teachers over the seizure of his cell phone.
Ector County Court-at-Law Judge Brooke Hendricks during a Thursday hearing found there was probable cause to believe the teenager committed aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
Ector County District Attorney Dusty Gallivan asked for the boy to remain in custody not only because of his alleged conduct, but because he made statements to detention officers that were of some concern. Gallivan said staff from PermiaCare, which provides mental health services, will continue to monitor the teenager while he’s in custody.
Youths incarcerated in the youth center are entitled to detention hearings every 10 days.
According to Ector County Independent School District officials, the boy and another student agreed to fight each other, but it ended when one of them was stabbed. Officials described the student’s injuries as “minor.”
Also on Thursday, the Bowie Middle School student who was recorded attacking a teacher Sept. 7 waived his right to his first 10-day detention hearing, said Kevin Mann, director of juvenile services.
The boy was arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault of a public servant.
The video shows the student touching the teacher while trying to get the phone out of her desk, her pushing him away and then him taking her to the ground and beating her. At one point, her head can be heard banging against a desk. The teacher has not yet returned to work.
Mann said Hendricks also ordered two Nimitz students to remain in custody Thursday.
On Wednesday, an 11-year-old sixth grader at Nimitz told one of his friends he planned to shoot up the school Thursday, resulting in the boy being arrested on suspicion of threat or exhibition of a weapon on school or bus grounds, a Class A misdemeanor.
His arrest came one day after a 13-year-old eighth grader at Nimitz was arrested for allegedly threatening to shoot a teacher who stepped in between him and another student while they were arguing. According to ECISD officials, the boy did not have a weapon. He was arrested on suspicion of exhibition, use or threat of exhibition or use of a firearm, a Class A misdemeanor.
An Ireland Elementary student who was also arrested Wednesday was not booked into the facility, but is still facing a charge of threat or exhibition of a weapon on school or bus grounds, Mann said. That student is 10 years old.
ECISD has been dealing with a spate of student arrests.
On Aug. 24, authorities said an OHS student was arrested after inflicting a non-life threatening wound on a fellow student and two days later, a Permian student was arrested for bringing a gun on campus.
ECISD Police Chief Todd Hiner said Thursday the case stemming from the Aug. 24 incident was “inactivated due to insufficient evidence” and was not sent to the juvenile probation department as a result.
The Permian student arrested Aug. 26 remains in the youth center. He waived his Sept. 15 detention hearing.
On Wednesday, ECISD released the following statement:
“School and school district leaders are, once again, calling on parents to help with these situations. Parents and school staff, together, must make sure students understand that fighting and violence are not the right way to settle differences; and this type of behavior can have long-term consequences in the form of discipline or criminal charges. School must be a safe place for students to learn and that will happen when all of us are working together to teach kids to handle conflict and deal with each other without violence.”
