Aquavis Hickman is being tried as an adult.
A US high school student, who attacked two teachers in school premises, has been hit indicted on assault and kidnapping charges, according to a report in Fox News. The outlet said that the attacks took place at Parkland High School in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. A video of 17-year-old Aquavis Hickman hitting one of the teachers in the classroom in April had gone viral on social media, leading to a barrage of comments. Hickman is being tried as an adult and his case has been moved from a juvenile court to a superior court.
Watch the video:
NEW: North Carolina high school student who went viral for hitting his teacher has been smacked with felony charges & is being charged as an adult.
This is how it’s done.
17-year-old Aquavis Hickman has been indicted on assault and kidnapping charges for two separate… pic.twitter.com/JOsO0bFiKX
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 5, 2024
“A grand jury was convened last week, last Monday, comprised of members of this community and the grand jury returned two bills of indictment against the defendant now in this case, Aquavis Hickman,” Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill said at a press conference.
Mr O’Neill said Hickman “unlawfully confined and restrained” the female teacher on April 15 “for the purpose of terrorising her. That defendant was also indicted on that same bill for assault on a government official, that being a teacher, and finally communicating threats against that teacher.”
The legal officer said the student told the teacher that he was going to kill her, and the “threat was made in a manner and under circumstances which would cause a reasonable person to believe that threat was likely to be carried out, and the person threatened believed it would, in fact, be carried out.”
The viral video shared on social media shows Hickman violently slapping his teacher twice as well as abusing her.
After the teen slaps the teacher, she is heard asking him, “Do you think that affected me in any way?” “Want me to hit you again?” Hickman replies, while stepping up and repeating the question. “I don’t want it,” the teacher says, but he hits her again. He hit her so hard that glasses fly off her face while the teenager continues his profanity-filled rant.
“Ain’t nobody even coming. You got slapped. B****, go back to teaching,” says Hickman.
With Hickman’s arrest and indictment, the police wants to give a strong message.
“Our message to our community is simple. We stand with teachers. We will fight to protect those teachers. And if you lay a hand on a teacher and assault a teacher, you can expect that the punishment will be swift and severe,” said Mr O’Neill.
School district officials declined to comment on the case or Hickman’s arrest.
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