Teenager brutally beaten while walking home from school in Riviera Beach

RIVIERA BEACH, Fla. — Two students, a seventh and eighth grader at JFK Middle School in Riviera Beach, are charged in connection with a brutal attack on another student at the same school last week as they returned home from school. ‘walk to school, just a few blocks from campus.

The teen spoke exclusively to WPTV’s Shannon Cake with his mother present during the interview.

“I was trying to cross the street,” he said. “They came up behind me and jumped on me. They hit me on the back of the head and started beating me.

Bystanders and others recorded the beatings and posted the videos on social media. The recordings show two suspects punching, kicking, kicking and body-slamming the victim.

“We are looking at all options,” Riviera Beach Police Chief Michael Coleman said. “Everyone who played a role in this incident, from the people who held the phone to record the incident to the individuals who cheered the suspects on as they beat this young man.”

The police report noted multiple cuts, bruises and scratches to his face, torso and neck.

“I was walking home from school. There was this group of people and these two kids, they took their shirts off and they asked me to fight. I said no. the victim told WPTV.

“There was a point in the video where you stood up and started to walk away and they came at you again. What were you thinking at that time?” Cake asked the teen.

“I was like, I wish my mom was here,” the victim said. “I just want to go home to my mother.”

Police Chief Coleman watched two separate video clips of the incident.

“What I saw was heartbreaking,” Coleman said. “When I first saw it, it was hard to watch. A very disturbed child was being beaten up by a group of young men. As soon as I saw this video, I thought of my own child. I have a young child the same age.

Minutes after seeing the video Saturday morning, Chief Coleman said he ordered his officers to investigate.

“My officers identified two individuals in the video who were striking this young man,” Coleman said. “We have arrested one of these individuals so far, and we will be arresting the second subject in this melee. The charges will be attempted robbery and battery.

The victim’s mother spoke exclusively with WPTV. Kristen, a single mother who works two jobs, said her son is now afraid to go back to school.

“He’s a good kid and he loves school,” Kristin said.

She said she is now trying to save money to move so she can enroll her son in a new school district.

“He loves the school he wants to go to every day,” she said. “It’s just sad because this incident has made my son not even want to go back to this school.”