HIALEAH, Fla. – A 15-year-old boy accused of stabbing another student Tuesday during a fight at Westland Hialeah Senior High School appeared in court Wednesday, where a judge ordered that he remain in juvenile detention until at least his next court appearance.
According to Miami-Dade County Public Schools spokeswoman Daisy Gonzalez-Diego, a freshman and a senior got into a fight inside a school bathroom and the freshman pulled out a small blade and cut the other teen.
Authorities later said an X-Acto knife was used in the attack.
Local 10 News reporter Derek Shore spoke to the victim, Giovanni Pavon, 18, who said that he met the freshman in the bathroom to settle a dispute after bumping into each other when the teen pulled out a knife.
"Thank God I reacted quicker," Pavon said.
Pavon said the teen nearly missed his face and eye, and he suffered a puncture wound to the chest and arm. Pavon said he hopes that his attacker gets help.
"Something's going on with him," Pavon said.
A video of the fight, which was taken by students at the school, shows the X-Acto knife in the 15-year-old student's hand and students breaking up the fight.
Pavon, who was treated at Palmetto General Hospital, appears in the video with multiple stab wounds on his body.
School police arrested the 15-year-old boy on a charge of aggravated battery.
He appeared in court the next day still wearing his school uniform. No family members were present.
The teen told Judge Angelica Zayas that his mother was informed about his arrest by school officials, but he was unsure whether she knew when he was supposed to appear in court.
The boy's public defender argued that his client should be released on home detention because the incident was a mutual fight between two students who made a bad decision.
However, Zayas said he should remain in custody due to the nature of the charge and until prosecutors and the defense can meet.
The state is considering whether to charge the teen as an adult.
His next court date is scheduled for June 7. Local 10 News is not identifying the teen because of his age.
Meanwhile, concerns about the fight are growing amongst parents who have students enrolled at the school.
One woman said her child was attacked by a boy wearing a mask last month just as school let out. The incident was recorded on a cellphone camera and the teen suffered a black eye, the boy's mother said.
"I did not receive a call from any of the faculty even though this happened right after school," Lesbia Maldonado said.
According to Maldonado, a school resource officer told her that the incident was "just another school ground fight." She said school employees told her that she wasn't called because they assumed she was working and didn't want to bother her.
Maldonado said she has filed a report with Hialeah police.