Spring ISD teacher accused of putting 11-year-old student in chokehold

HOUSTON – Eleven-year-olds are not supposed to be afraid to go to school, but that's how a Spring Elementary School student felt after he said he was choked by a science teacher on the playground last week.

"I was scared," Lylbrian Smith said.  "I thought I was gonna die."

The fifth-grader admitted he got into an altercation with another student at Major Elementary School after a game of touch football.  He said the next thing he felt was a male teacher's hand around his throat.

"I couldn't breathe," Lylbrian said.  "I could barely even see because tears was all up in my eyes."

His mother, Jasmin Lewis said she was informed about the incident through a phone call from the school's principal.

"That's not anything that a parent wants to hear happening to their child at school," Lewis said.  "It's a place where he's supposed to be learning."

In a statement to Channel 2 a Spring ISD spokesperson stated:

"We are aware that an allegation of improper use of discipline has been reported. As soon as we were notified of the allegation, the employee was reassigned to non-school duty while we conduct an investigation."

In the meantime, Lylbrian and his mother are hoping it turns out to be a permanent reassignment.

"He doesn't need to be around kids period if he's going to be doing stuff like that," Lewis said.

Lylbrian did not suffer any physical injuries from the incident and returned to school Monday.

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