MIDWEST CITY, Okla. (KFOR) – A Jarman Middle School student is recovering after allegedly being body slammed by his own teacher.
“He was crying. You could tell that his body was hurting. Mr. Heffington put his hands on my son and body slammed him to the ground,” said the student’s mom.
Court documents just filed in Oklahoma County District Court Friday back the claims up.
Forty-eight-year-old Blaine Heffington is now charged with assault and battery of a school student.
Midwest City police say he picked the student up by his rib cage, threw him to the ground and then laid on top of him.
“It’s just sickening,” said his mom.
The student’s parents say they worry for their child’s safety and wish to remain anonymous. They say it all started when Heffington thought he heard their son use a racial slur. Their son denied the claim, and Heffington allegedly charged towards him. The boy pulled his phone out to call home, and Heffington grabbed it.
“That’s when the teacher slammed the phone out of our son’s hand on the ground and then picked him up,” said the student’s father.
His phone was shattered. Other students ran from the classroom to get help. Police say Heffington was escorted out of the building by a school resource officer, but the student’s parents say no one called 911. In fact, the parents say they weren’t even called until an hour after the incident.
“Call the paramedic! A grown man throwing my son to the ground and then him laying on top of him? You know he has to be hurting,” said the child’s mother.
Their son is now left with more than just bruises.
“He has night terrors. He hears things at night, he wakes us up,” said his mom.
His parents are now putting their trust in the court system, hoping justice is served.
We reached out to Mid-Del Schools, and they provided News 4 with the following statement :
“The Mid-Del administration was notified on Feb. 10 of a criminal complaint against a teacher at Jarman Middle School. The employee was immediately placed on leave while we cooperated with the Midwest City Police Department in their investigation. The teacher has resigned his position at Mid-Del Schools. We remain in communication with the family of the student involved in the incident.”
Mid-Del Schools
The parents claim the school repeatedly told them the teacher would be fired, not that he would be allowed to resign.
News 4 also attempted to contact Heffington for his side of the story, but he did not return our request for comment.
