Texas high school student says she was beaten by officers for not wearing mask properly

The school district and the Galveston County Sheriff's Office have both launched separate internal investigations, officials said.

ByMayra Moreno KTRK logo
Thursday, October 22, 2020
HS student claims she was beaten by officers over face mask
The mother of a teen, who claims she was beaten by officers over a face mask, said she was taunted and called names. Hear what the 15-year-old said happened.

LEAGUE CITY, Texas -- A mother says she's furious and is demanding answers from school officials after her daughter was allegedly beaten by three officers at a Texas high school over a face mask.

Shanna Proctor-Lyons spoke with KTRK-TV on Wednesday and said her daughter suffered a broken hand plus head and knee injuries during the incident.

"I just lost it," she said. "I couldn't understand why my 15-year-old was beaten so badly. They didn't have any reason why."

Her daughter, Kaidence Lyons, said she was walking down the hallway at Clear Creek High School in League City when she claims a school employee yelled at her for not wearing her mask properly.

She said the employee was taunting her, chasing her down the hall and calling her names.

Kaidence was then sent to the principal's office for talking back, though she claims she did not.

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She said the employee was demeaning her and allegedly said, "I don't want to hear nothing. I'm tired of y'all Black kids thinking you can run my school ... I got something for you."

Kaidence then said she was taken into a room where three officers beat her up and placed her in handcuffs.

"They didn't tell me why I was being arrested, handcuffed and slammed down, hitting for different reasons," she said.

The family's lawyer, Ronald Haley, Jr., is now demanding an investigation and asking the district for complete transparency into the incident.

He's also asking for surveillance video leading up to the moment Kaidence was escorted to the private room.

"Why was she brought to a room with no cameras?" asked Haley. "This was supposed to be a safe haven. It seemed very cavalier for her to be walked to that room casually."

KTRK reached out to Clear Creek ISD for a response on Wednesday.

The district issued the following statement:

"In the Clear Creek Independent School District, we believe each person deserves to be physically and emotionally safe. The school district and the Galveston County Sheriff's Office have both launched separate internal investigations into the events leading up to the arrest of a Clear Creek High School student on Monday, October 19, 2020.

We are aware of the public allegations made by the student's family and we take their concerns seriously. The school district will continue to work with the student's family and keep them informed along the way.

Clear Creek ISD contracts law enforcement support through the Galveston County Sheriff's Office for all CCISD schools. Each high school of approximately 2,500 students is staffed with three school liaison officers."

Meanwhile, Kaidence's mother is asking for prayers and hopes the truth will be revealed.

"You won't get bruised just for being body-slammed, it was more physical," she said. "We don't want this to happen to no other child."