Jaheem Herrera's Family Files Suit Against DeKalb County Schools

An update to the tragic story of Jaheem Herrera, the 11-year-old Atlanta boy who took his own life after months of harassment and anti-gay bullying. The family has filed suit against the DeKalb County School System, reports the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

School officials have 30 days to answer the claim, though Masika Bermudez’s lawyer expects the suit to go forward. "We will be asking for a substantial amount," said Gerald Griggs, whose complaint alleges negligence by Dunaire Elementary School officials.

Jaheem’s mother said she complained to them about relentless bullying of her son, but that the abuse didn’t stop. She believes it ultimately led Jaheem to kill himself. A "significant majority" of any money awarded to the family—via settlement or jury verdict—would go toward funding the Jaheem Herrera Foundation, he said.

The suit comes the same time a criminal investigation into the DeKalb County School District gains momentum as other parents say their sons were also bullied, harassed, "called gay" and beaten with belt buckles at the same school. The AJC and WXIA-TV report Griggs represents other parents of Dunaire students who say their children were bullied, too. The school system will release their findings on the Herrera "bully-cide" on May 20.

Jaheem Herrera took his own life on April 16.  This was two weeks after the suicide of  Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, an 11-year-old Massachusetts boy who also suffered taunts that he was gay, feminine and "talked funny.".

Lawyer for Family of Boy Files Suit ... [AJC]
DeKalb Schools to Reveal More About Suicide [11 Alive]

You May Have Missed ...
Prosecutors Weigh Criminal Charges in "Bully-Cide" [R20]
DeKalb Schools Investigate Jaheem Herrera's Suicide [R20]
Boston Globe: Carl "Bullied to Death" [R20]
Jaheem Called "Gay" Hours Before Dying [R20]
Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover's Mother on "Ellen" [R20]
Anti-Gay Bullying Drives Georgia Boy to Suicide [R20]
ABC News on Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover [R20]
CNN on Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover and Bullying [R20]
Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover's Mother Speaks Out  [R20]
Anti-Gay Bullying Drives Mass. Student to Suicide [R20]
Mother Calls for State Investigation [R20]
Funeral for Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover [R20]

Comments

[G.]

This truly is a tragic story. Thanks for staying on it.

I hope the teachers and principal are named in the suit too. They will learn to ignore this type of bullying.

[Dex123ter]

No kind of monetary settlement will bring Jaheem back, but hope that the family wins.

[gurlene]

I do hope the parent(s) of the few kids who befriended Jaheem allow them to cooperate with the investigation. The school system and the ignorant teachers and administrators who ignored this poor kids' cry for help know their rear ends are on the line here and I do hope it causes them to sit up in the middle of the night and come to terms with what their callousness caused.

Holding a kid in a headlock until they pass out is going past schoolyard bullying. A win is going to force many public schools, especially in black communities across the nation, to understand there is a sub minority within their ranks that they now, by law, have to deal with and protect from the ignorant teachings (anti-gay rants by homophobic teachers and preachers)that have been taught to past generations of blacks.

[alicia banks]

great news!

cha-ching!

i would also seek damages from the parents of the bullies!!!

and i hope it has a lasting effect on schools nationwide as gaybashing bullies are wilding everywhere!....

peace
ab

[thegaytekeeper]

I hope they win their case as well...