CYPRESS, Texas – A Cypress-Fairbanks ISD behavioral specialist has been charged after allegedly assaulting a 16-year-old non-verbal special needs student who later died from choking on food.
Court documents indicate Donald Cameron Perkins is charged with injury to a disabled individual, a third-degree felony.
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The incident happened on April 23 at the Carlton Pre-vocational Center. Cy-Fair ISD police were called to investigate a serious medical emergency involving a child.
Court documents indicate police spoke to the child’s mother and father who said he was diagnosed with autism at a young age and was essentially non-verbal in his daily life.
Police spoke to the principal and also to Perkins, who was the behavioral specialist in the room with the child when the child had the medical emergency.
Perkins allegedly told police he had been summoned to a bus after the student took a piece of food from the bus driver and shoved it into his mouth. After arriving, Perkins said he took the child off the bus and to an exterior door of the school where the student fell to the ground. Perkins said he then escorted the student to his classroom where he went to his seat before moving around the room and taking his clothes off. The staff in the room told Perkins the student wasn’t behaving normally and one of them said they thought he was choking on something. Perkins said he attempted the Heimlich maneuver on the student.
Officers later learned Perkins allegedly omitted some information in his statement.
Court documents state an officer viewed surveillance video and saw Perkins walking with the student in his grasp to the classroom. The video allegedly showed Perkins increasing his intensity of handling the child as they approached the classroom. The documents state the officers saw that it appeared Perkins pushed the child from behind while entering the classroom.
Video from the bus also did not show the child falling outside the door of the school as Perkins had said, according to the court documents.
After reviewing another video, officers noticed Perkins pushed the child with significant force. The documents state the child became slightly airborne before landing on his chest with his knees and hands hitting the tile floor. The officers state in the court documents this was excessive and that Perkins knew the child still had food in his mouth and also a history of potential choking hazards.
The documents state staff noticed the child was choking when he began to remove his clothes and brought a trash can thinking he was going to throw up. The child went limp and Perkins attempted the Heimlich maneuver on him, but was unsuccessful.
The child was transported to Memorial Hermann - Cypress hospital and later flown by helicopter to Texas Children’s Hospital in the Texas Medical Center. Court documents say officers learned the child went through a significant period of oxygen deprivation. Brain scans also showed no brain activity and officers learned the child died on Wednesday.
Perkins was taken into custody on Wednesday. The district says he is currently on administrative leave.
Cy-Fair ISD released the following statement:
“Student safety is our top priority. The district does not tolerate conduct that compromises the safety of our children, and we thoroughly investigate any allegations of staff mistreatment of students.
We are currently investigating a serious incident involving a student and a staff member at the Carlton Center. Upon learning of the allegation, the district took immediate action to remove the staff member and place the individual on administrative leave. CFISD is cooperating fully with law enforcement to ensure a comprehensive investigation and will take all necessary actions based on the findings.
“We are devastated by the loss of one of our students. My most sincere prayers are with the family, and we grieve alongside them during this heartbreaking time,” said Dr. Doug Killian, superintendent of schools.
Due to the active investigation and student privacy laws, the district cannot provide further details at this time."