A counselor assaulted a 7-year-old, slamming him into a wall.
By Andie Johnson -- KIRO 5 | Follow the link to access the online article
RENTON, Wash. — Malia Carter thought she had finally found her son the help he needed.
Jerome, 7, has ADHD and an individualized plan for behavior issues. Day to day, Carter said, that shows up through frustration and emotional outbursts.
"As his parent, I have to be patient with him," Carter said. "I thought that was what they were doing, too."
She is referencing Renton Academy, a school built for students who need more support than a standard school can offer. She transferred Jerome there in March.
"I thought he was going there to get help and support his special needs that he needed," said Carter. "That wasn't the case."
Surveillance video obtained by KING 5 shows, just seven weeks after Jerome arrived at Renton Academy, a school employee grabbing and slamming her son into a wall.
The video starts with Renton Academy's hallway on May 4, 2026. An employee and Jerome come into frame.
Jerome is visibly angry in the video – pushing and kicking as the educator tries to de-escalate him. Five other adults gather nearby, including counselor Nila Griffin.
Jerome, in his own words, said he was coming down from the outburst.
"I was mad and calming down," said Jerome. "And she (Griffin) said something mean, and then I walked up to her and she grabbed me by my shirt."
The video shows Griffin grab him, push him, and then do something Jerome's family attorney said no one trained to manage children in crisis should ever do: slam him into a wall.
"Horrible," Jerome said, describing the moment. "I hit my head and it feel like I had a bruise on it."
Recalling the video, Carter grows visibly emotional.
"Because I couldn't help him," Carter said. "I couldn't help him at all."
Carter said the school wasn't clear on exactly what happened. She didn't see the video, and didn't get the full picture of what her son had gone through, until two weeks later.
"A lot of questions, not enough answers," she said. "I was getting pushback from the school district and I was like, 'OK, so you guys are protecting her, and not my son.' So I'm going to protect my son."
She called police, child protective services, and Loren Cochran, an attorney who specializes in cases where kids are harmed at school.
"I was horrified. Absolutely horrified," Cochran said, describing his reaction to the video. "Because you take a kid like Jerome and you put him in a school like Renton Academy so he's safe."
A counselor trained for exactly this
Renton Academy's website states the school has a "team of specifically trained teachers and counselors."
Records explain the school is "for students who have difficulty succeeding in a traditional classroom environment," and that "many students have mental or behavioral health issues that can sometimes manifest in aggressive or violent behavior. For that reason, school employees are trained to de-escalate students who are agitated, and routinely do so successfully."
Griffin wasn't a teacher or assigned to a classroom, records say, but her role was solely focused on providing "extra support to students who are agitated and acting out to the point where they cannot remain in the classroom."
"She was listed before as a counselor/interventional behaviorist," Cochran said. "So my understanding is she was supposed to have training to deal with kids like Jerome."
Griffin told police she acted in self-defense, saying that when Jerome came toward her, she feared for her safety and felt the need to physically control him.
The responding officer didn't buy it. Griffin has since been charged with fourth-degree assault.
The Renton School District told KING 5 they "do not discuss personnel and student discipline or employment matters." But did share "Ms. Griffin did not return to the school following the incident and is no longer employed by the district."
KING 5 emailed and called Griffin's attorney, but has not heard any response.
Four months later, more questions than answers
"Why did we have other staff members that did nothing? Why wasn't Jerome taken for medical care immediately? Why wasn't his mother notified immediately?"
These are the questions Cochran and Carter still have, four months after the incident.
"Is this person going to remain an educator in Washington state?" Cochran asked about the counselor. "Is she going to remain a counselor of kids with special needs?"
Asked how Renton School District has responded, Cochran didn't mince words: "Almost nothing."
He said the district has responded as they're required by law to their public records requests, but when it came to addressing anything he or Carter have asked about, "they've simply referred me to their risk management service."
In order to get more information and answers, he said, the school district is forcing them to file a lawsuit.
"That's the frustrating part, is you always hear, 'Oh, this person just wanted to file a lawsuit,'" Cochran said. "Well the Renton School District and Renton Academy are telling us that's the only thing we can do."
What frustrates him and Carter even more, he said, is that the district still hasn't agreed to move Jerome out of Renton Academy.
Carter pulled her son out of the school immediately after the assault and has refused to send him back. But because the district hasn't approved a transfer, Jerome has nowhere else to go and Carter has had to stay home with him.
"I lost my job because I couldn't send him back to school," she said. "And I don't have nobody to watch him."
In writing, the district rejected her request to transfer Jerome, telling the family there were no behavior improvements at another school with one-on-one support.
Cochran said he's still waiting for an explanation.
"We are waiting. Malia Carter is waiting. I am waiting," he said. "I'm standing by the phone for Renton School District to call me and tell me why he'd need to be here. Or why they haven't made alternative arrangements for him."
As a new school year begins, Jerome remains in limbo.
"Let me son go to a different school, please," Carter said. "Quit harming us even more. Like this is torture."
Cochran said the case is about more than one family.
"We want to make sure that the institution itself – and the district – is being held accountable," Cochran said. "So that this doesn't happen to any other kid within the district."
