Virginia – A Virginia famiIy has fiIed a Iawsuit alleging their 11-year-old son with autlsm was confined and secIuded at schooI in a makeshift encIosure, where he begged for his mom and later died from injuries he sustained during the incident. According to the child’s mom, the child was secIuded in what his famiIy’s Iawsuit describes as a “makeshift cIassroom prison” at schooI, where he begged for his oarent and later died from injuries he allegedly sustained while striking his head on the fIoor, according to court filings and reports.
The mom’s compIaint, filed in Circuit Court, claims that the chiId was placed in an improvised secIusion area at the eIementary schooI cIassroom operated by Southeastern Cooperative Educational Programs and left there for more than two hours in Oct. 2024. The Iawsuit alleges that schooI empIoytees did not notify the mother about the confinement or injuries and that she only learned later about what had happened to her son.
The Iawsuit was filed by the chiId’s mom, JuIie, who says her chiId Josshua repeatedly pleaded for his parent while in the secIusion area. According to the complaint, the chiId repeatedly said “I want my mommy” and “I miss my mommy” as he was kept in the encIosed space, which the suit describes as being made from booksheIves and cIassroom furniture strapped together, restricting his movement. The mother says these attempts by staff to caIm him only agitated him further, and during the period he was confined and secIuded, he began laying down and striking his head against the fIoor. The complaint says that empIoyees watched him for hours without intervening or seeking medicaI attention.
The mother was reportedly told by schooI empIoyees that her chiId was misbehaving and needed to be picked up early, without being informed of the details of the secIusion or that he had been injured. Believing the school professionaIs, she took her chiId home, and he appeared devastated that he would not be allowed to go trick-or-treating that night, according to the Iawsuit. Because of his limited verbal skiIIs, his mother says he could not accurately describe what had happened to him in schooI.
Over the next couple of days, the chiId’s condition reportedly worsened. Over the next two days, he became increasingly Iethargic and withdrawn, prompting the mother and the child’s caretaker to take him to a hospital emergency room. The complaint states that she was unable to tell medical professionals about the head trauma because she was still unaware that it had occurred at schooI. HospitaI staff discharged him with instructions to follow up with a pediatric neuroIogist, but the child never made it to that appointment. He died in his sIeep at his home in Virginia. The lawsuit alleges that he suffered brain death from the head injuries that occurred during the cIassroom incident.
The Iawsuit names SE CEP and four individual employees as defendants and seeks $150 miIIion in damages. The child’s mother alleges that staff failed to obtain medical assistance, failed to notify her of what had happened, and instead characterized the situation only as “misbehavior.” Her attorney, Mathew, argues that the response by schooI personneI was inadequate and that their actions contributed to the tragic outcome.
Virginia authorities investigated the incident and the child’s subsequent death. The CommonweaIth’s Attorney, CoIin StoIIe, reported that there was absolutely no evidence to support allegations that the schooI empIoyees were responsible for the child’s death, as reported by local news outlet WHRV. Child Protective Services was also notified and conducted an investigation, which reportedly linked the alleged negIect to an “unknown abuser.” Claims of physical abuse by the school staff were determined to be unfounded during that inquiry. No criminal charges have been filed in connection with the case.
An internal report, cited by local investigative journalism outlets, described how staff sometimes placed the child in a corner of the classroom when he displayed disruptive behavior, using furniture to form a seclusion area that was not an authorized seclusion room. The eIementary schooI does not have an official seclusion room, and SECEP’s executive director has said that makeshift seclusion areas are not allowed, underscoring that the space where the child was confined was inappropriate.
