The mother of Janissa Valdez, the 12-year-old middle school student from Texas who was body-slammed by a school security officer on March 29, is speaking out after learning about her daughter’s violent encounter.
“She’s my daughter, and I just want justice for her,” Gloria Valdez told ABC News‘ Good Morning America (GMA).
She added: “I was upset. I was angry because I still couldn’t believe he had done that to her and then she told me, ‘Mom, I wasn’t fighting. Why did he do that?’”
A video uploaded to YouTube on April 5, shows San Antonio Rhodes Middle School student Janissa Valdez being thrown to the ground by school district officer Joshua Kehm.
The brief cellphone video shows Janissa struggling in Kehm’s arms before the officer tosses her down onto the brick pavement.
In the GMA video, Janissa shows her face, which appears to have suffered bruising from the impact onto the ground—earlier pictures show a bump had initially formed but has since shrunk.
According to the San Antonio Independent School District, an investigation was immediately launched, both by the administration and the district’s police, resulting in a two-day suspension for Janissa who was involved in a “verbally aggressive” altercation with another female.
Kehm was immediately placed on paid leave after the video surfaced.
“She wasn’t moving. She was just knocked out. I wanted answers and nobody could give me answers,” Gloria told News 4 San Antonio. “I contacted the vice-principal. I talked to the officer. He did what he had to do at the moment—those were his words.
The Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas told ABC News: “There is an ongoing investigation and Officer Kehm fully intends to cooperate with the investigation.”
