Posted on 12/22/2009 4:57:41 PM PST by SkyPilot
ENGLEWOOD, N.J. (CBS) ― Click to enlarge1 of 1 David Muneton, an eighth grade honor student, needed reconstructive facial surgery after being savagely beaten by a gang of 11 students on Dec. 18, 2009, in Engelwood, N.J.
David Muneton, an eighth grade honor student, needed reconstructive facial surgery after being savagely beaten by a gang of 11 students on Dec. 18, 2009, in Engelwood, N.J.
Police said as many as 11 students beat up the eighth-grader leaving him severely injured, and he may even lose his sight.
CBS 2 HD spoke with some of his friends about what led to the brutal attack.
The incident near a school soccer field was so violent that 13-year-old David Muneton needed reconstructive surgery to his face to correct several broken bones.
His friends at the Janis Dismus Middle School in Englewood are stunned.
"It's so hard. … I'm his best friend," Denise Melendez said before breaking down in tears.
Police have arrested seven students from both the middle school and high school, charging them with aggravated assault. The youngest one is just 12 years old.
Investigators said the teenagers jumped Muneton on Friday as he walked home from school to get back at him for an earlier incident during which the eighth-grader accidentally hit a girl with a basketball.
The superintendent said the girl, who has also been charged, led the boys to Muneton, saying "He's the one."
"We do know that after the girl made the comment one of the people, the boys, who was with him immediately punched him," Superintendent Dr. Richard Segall said.
Students at the middle school have made a get well card for the 13-year-old -- all of them outraged over what happened.
"He really didn't deserve to get beat up like that because he really didn't do anything and it wasn't intentional that he hit her with a ball," student Michael Bailey said.
"If I was there Ii would have told someone," student Emanuel Doughtery added.
"I wrote I hope he gets better soon," said student Katherine Saldarriga.
Muneton is recovering at Englewood Hospital. His brother told CBS 2 HD his condition is improving. The assistant principal said the youngster is a model student.
"He is a wonderful young man, actually one of our students who made the honor roll this quarter," Daniella Bailey said.
As these kids try to make sense of what happened all seven students arrested have been suspended. This coming as police was looking to charge four more teenagers.
Three of the students charged remain at the juvenile detention center in Paramus, while the rest have been released to their parents -- two of them required to wear ankle bracelets.
I would be very surprised if this isn’t gang or race related. But then, I’m a bit cynical.
So how come this isn’t a “hate” crime?
My grandad experienced the same thing in NYC when he was growing up ... five kids constantly beat up on him ... this was in 1948 or so ... from his pictures he was just a little skinny kid .... so there’s no difference ....bet it goes way back in history ...
In this day and age, I’m afraid not. I’d be interested to know the race of the attackers, though.
There were high school students mixed in too, and who knows what affiliations actually are in this day and age. There may have been some gang cretans mixed in.
This girl should be real proud. I hope she gets a matching sentence with the worst of the lot.
This was attempted murder, premeditation or not.
I respectfully disagree. I grew up in the inner city and it happened all the time. I am now 67 and still have tension when I see a group of teenagers approach me.
I could take a guess, but then I’d be branded a racist.
If so, we seriously need some vigilante justice in our society. The balance is completely out-of-kilter. Hatred runs rampant with no fear of consequences.
It IS a hate crime....that white kids beat those other kids with his face....he must be prosecuted!
/sarc
If Convicted the 11 should be executed.
Don't expect the MSM to report that. The article is so squishy, it says the school regrets something "happened" to the kid who was maimed.
"Happened" - like he slipped and fell in the bathroom.
Sigh.
Well, I expect Erich Holder to prosecute the white victim for accidentally hitting the black girl with a basketball.
Not the first time we have seen this kind of crime in school or school buses.
Maybe there is more. But it sounds as if the girl probably was very good looking, and probably got the boys together and lied about what happened to her earlier, and persuaded them to “get” him. Then they got carried away.
That is, if it’s not some sort of racial incident.
“I am now 67 and still have tension when I see a group of teenagers approach me.”
Hopefully you live in a state where when approached, you have a loaded piece in your holster as well.
Careful. You may be charged with a hate crime for asking.
I would like to see the race of the attackers.
Raised as trash, no one should be surprised when they act like trash.
Amish kids?
My guess: Nerdy kid who was a bit of an outcast let a basketball get away from him in gym class. It hit a girl with some friends in a rough crowd who didn’t like him anyway. His apology wasn’t contrite enough, so she went to her friends (mortified at what the “creepy” did) and they said they’d take care of it if she would go with them to point him out.
Oh I don’t know.. the society at schools very much resembles the way prison society functions. When you have nor freedom of association due to incarceration (also known as compulsory attendance), whether in school or prison, the good are not able to escape from the bad. This sort of thing happens frequently in schools, particularly government schools.
Hey! The school took harsh and swift action!
It "suspended" 4 of them!
Expect possible detention for the rest, and maybe also the dreaded writing on the blackboard 50 times:
"I WILL NOT MAIM AND BLIND THE WHITE HONOR STUDENT"
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