News (USA)

Gay Houston teen beaten with metal pipe, school officials ignore warning

Jayron MartinAnother day, another horrifying report of violence against a gay teenager, reports the Dallas Voice.

Jayron Martin, a 16-year-old high school freshman from Houston, tells KHOU-TV that he was chased down after school and beaten with a metal pipe last week while eight classmates stood around and watched.

“All they kept saying was, ‘We going to get you. We going to fight you,’ and all that and so when they started coming after me they were like, ‘You’re not going to be gay anymore.’ They just kept hitting me,” Martin said.

The beating finally ended when a neighbor pointed a shotgun at the attackers and cocked it.

Martin is lucky; he escaped with only a concussion and cuts and bruises on his arms and hands. But the worst part of this story is that Martin had warned two principals and his bus driver that the attack was going to happen, and they apparently did nothing to stop it.

One of Martin’s attackers, another 16-year-old, has been arrested and charged with aggravated assault.

Martin’s bus driver has been placed on administrative leave, and the school district is investigating. Meanwhile, Martin’s mother said she wants to move out of the neighborhood and the school district. She’s also retained an attorney and is considering a civil lawsuit.

Harris County Sheriff’s Office deputies arrested the 16-year-old who beat Martin. The accused teen is facing aggravated assault charges. His case is in the juvenile court system, and those records are sealed.

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