A New York mother has filed a lawsuit against her 14-year-old son’s former school football coach after he allegedly smashed the teen’s head into a wall on multiple occasions because he fell asleep during a team video review.
Per the New York Post, the September 2018 incident resulted in Shayson Willock requiring six staples in his skull after he initially lost consciousness. The coach, identified as Nicholas Nugent, was ultimately arrested and charged with several counts of felony assault, endangering the welfare of a child, harassment, and menacing, the lawsuit stated.
Besides Nugent, the other defendants named in the $2.5 million civil lawsuit include New York City and the Department of Education. Shayson’s mother, Deslyn Willock, filed the lawsuit last Monday. She told the news outlet that she felt school administrators largely concealed the incident, adding that she had to ultimately report the alleged assault to police.
RELATED STORIES
“I don’t know if I can trust the teachers,” Willock said. “I don’t know if I can trust the coaches. I don’t even know if I can trust the justice system. I don’t know who to trust at this point, because I felt like everyone failed me. Everyone failed my son.”
Nugent is said to have assaulted Shayson after getting angry because the teen fell asleep during a team video review. And though he has since been placed on supervised release, the Department of Education did not confirm if he still works for the school district.
“I’m shocked by the phone call to find out it’s a news thing, but hey, it is what it is. It’s all good,” Nugent said. “That’s why we’re going to trial, because I’m all about defending my freedom. I’m all about defending my rights.”
READ ALSO: Racism and Discrimination Make Black People Age Faster According to New Report
Shayson’s family and the lawsuit claim that the teen had issues staying awake because he was recovering from COVID. The lawsuit also states that Nugent initially told Shayson to leave the classroom before he followed the teen into the hallway and repeatedly smashed his head into a wall, the New York Post reported. Shayson was left bloodied as a result of the alleged assault and also passed out.
In the wake of the incident, Shayson’s mother claimed school administrators initially told her that her son fell back during an argument. But she said she heard her son accusing Nugent of hurting him. She also said she got to the school before an ambulance arrived.
“I saw my son just lying there, bleeding from his head,” she recalled. She said Shayson has not played football after the alleged assault. Willock’s lawyer, Richard Kenny, also told the news outlet that an MRI that was later conducted on Shayson showed he could have suffered a brain contusion and spine damage.
READ ALSO: The Little-known Story of Mamie Smith, the First African American Female Singer Who Gained Instant Fame But Died Penniless
“He has a compromised cervical region with multiple herniations,” Kenny said, “which is wholly abnormal for anyone remotely close to his young age.”
And though Shayson has since enrolled in another school, he said he does not envision playing football again – even if his doctor gives him the all-clear. “I just didn’t like football anymore,” Shayson said. The teen also explained that he made that decision because he “didn’t know if it was gonna happen again.”
“When the situation had just happened, he would tell me that he felt like he doesn’t have a life anymore,” Willock said. “He feels like everything was taken away from him.
“As a mother,” she continued. “I would love for him to play football one day again.”
