JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The mother of a Westside High School student, who was body slammed by a teacher while playing musical chairs, said she plans to file a lawsuit and press charges against those involved.
Joanna Millikin told News4JAX she has retained legal counsel after her daughter, 16-year-old Nyla Millikin, suffered a concussion and bruised ribs when a male teacher slammed her to the ground during the last round of musical chairs at a pep rally on Friday.
“We have been retained by both Nyla and her mother, Joanna, to conduct an investigation into what occurred at the school. From the video, this incident should not have occurred. The teacher should never have put his hands on her and taken her to the ground. She has been injured. We are going to continue to work with the family and will take appropriate actions,” Attorney Gary Englander, with Englander Peebles, said.
Joanna Millikin posted a video on TikTok showing the moment when her daughter was thrown to the ground by the man, who News4JAX is not identifying because he has not been charged with a crime. After that, two people can be seen helping the student stand up while the man celebrated that he had won the game.
“He was a little too close to me from the beginning, from behind. So when the music stopped, you know how somebody pulls the chair and runs? I did that, sat down, then he ran after me, picked me up, and then slammed me,” Nyla Millikin told News4JAX on Monday.
Watch the video below
The mother said she wants accountability.
“I want justice to be done, because ain’t no teacher should be that close to a student they didn’t know,” Joanna Millikin said. “Nobody should even have to come or even have to deal with their kid going to the emergency room just for a teacher tackling their student over on the ground over musical chairs.”
The mother said she had a productive conversation with the school’s principal on Monday morning.
“He was a very nice, very nice principal. He sat down and talked to me, and he said that measures are being taken, but he did say he watched a video himself, and he said he did not expect that out of that young man. He said he didn’t know what he was thinking,” Joanna said.
Joanna Millikin also said she wants to press charges because she believes it was an assault.
News4JAX reached out to Duval County Public Schools and Westside High School to ask about the video and if any action was taken.
The district responded with a statement, saying in part that the employee “has been reassigned to duties without student contact while the district’s Office of Professional Standards investigates.”
District officials said they couldn’t provide any additional details due to the ongoing investigation.