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Detroit middle school student hospitalized after alleged attack by classmate over pencil

Parents outraged after son badly beaten up
Posted at 11:01 PM, May 02, 2019
and last updated 2019-05-03 08:01:31-04

(WXYZ) — Parents of a Pulaski Middle School student are outraged after their son was apparently attacked by a classmate.

Wallace Worthey, 12, a seventh-grader, spoke to 7 Action News Thursday evening as he recovered from his injuries at his home in Detroit.

He said his attacker is a bully who made fun of his clothes but fought him over a pencil.

“He threatened to break my nose," Wallace said, "And followed through with the threat.”

He claims he was brutally attacked Wednesday in his Social Studies class.

“I felt like I was not going to be OK,” Wallace said.

The student's face is now covered in bandages, bumps and bruises, and he says he did not fight off his attacker.

Wallace's mother, Shelly Worthey, and father Melvin Stokes, say he was "viciously" attacked and suffered a broken nose, a fractured eye socket and not to mention emotional trauma.

“It was just absolutely horrible,” said Melvin, Wallace's dad.

His mother added, "When she opened the door I was hysterical. I also didn’t recognize him.”

Wallace's mother received a frantic call from the school principal.

"She {the principal} said, 'mom, I’m going to warm you, you need to be prepared.' I stopped and looked and asked, 'is he bleeding?' She just looked at me and we proceeded down the hallway,” Wallace's mom recalled.

Wallace's parents say their 12-year-old son may never return to the same school building.

“I just hope this doesn’t happen again and I can just go to school safe," Worthey said.

School officials say they're investigating the incident. 7 Action News will continue to follow this developing story.