Parents Claim Bullies Beat Son to Death

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (CN) - An Arundel High School administrator knew that a 9th-grader's life had been threatened by a gang of bullies but took no action to prevent it, and the student was beaten to death, his parents say. The parents and sister of Christopher Jones sued the Anne Arundel County Board of Education and the parents of the kids who allegedly beat Jones to death on May 30, 2009.

The family says school administrators knew the bullies had threatened to stab their son, but the school did not notify his parents until they had made several calls to the school.

The parents say a school administrator promised to notify the parents of the bullies, and to notify county police and a gang task force, to try to stop the threats from "leaking into the streets of Crofton," where they lived.

Despite these promises, the parents say, "no action whatsoever to protect Christopher Jones was taken to protect his life or safety."

On Saturday, May 30, 2009, in Crofton, their son "was surrounded, detained, and then violently attacked," the parents say.

"Christopher Jones suffered fatal injuries as a result of this assault and died ... at the age of 14."

The parents want $10 million in compensatory and punitive damages from the parents of Jay Battle, Javel George, Trey Robinson and Danyal Bakhsh, who they say participated with defendant Eric Ali in beating their son to death.

They seek the same damages from the Anne Arundel County Board of Education.

The family is represented by Richard Jaklitsch of Upper Marlboro, Md.

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