Houston ISD releases limited details on death of Marshall Middle School student
HOUSTON - The Houston Independent School District (HISD) release updated information about the death of Marshall Middle School student Landon Payton.
Payton died following a medical emergency he suffered on the school's campus on Wednesday. Landon's father, Alexis, stated he has only seen video of what happened after his son collapsed and is "angry as hell", since the district hasn't shown him everything that occurred.
"All I want is closure. They don't even want to give me closure," said Payton.
In a statement, HISD expressed ongoing support for Landon's family and they would provide the family with as much information as possible surrounding the circumstances of Landon’s death.
"We continue to grieve with the family of Landon Payton and with the Marshall Middle School community. We will continue to do as much as we can to support the family as they go through this tremendously difficult period," the district said.
Houston ISD stated due to state and federal privacy laws, they are limited in the amount of personal information they can disclose. However, they provided the following, limited information:
- Landon experienced a medical emergency in front of the P.E. teacher and special education assistant teacher in the gymnasium. Prior to this incident, teachers did not have any indications that the child was not feeling well. The teachers acted immediately, radioed for the school nurse, and called 911.
- The students in P.E. class had been engaged in light physical activity for most of the period and were in "free play" for the last part of the period when the medical emergency occurred. They were asked to sit down while the staff was caring for Landon and then shortly after released from the gymnasium.
- Medical officials have not provided the District with a cause of death. The District is not able to determine the cause of death, which can only be established by medical officials.
- The nurse who provided medical assistance to Landon is a registered nurse with an active license. Prior to starting with HISD in February 2024, she worked on staff at Harris Health System for 30 years, including service as a cardiac and pulmonary surgery nurse.
- The temperature reading in the gym immediately after the incident was 72 degrees. School administration did not raise temperature concerns for any part of the building during the day.
At this time, medical officials have not provided HISD with a definitive cause of death.
The district says they believe the staff and EMS responded quickly and did everything they could to care for Landon.
They will share more information with the community when they are able to.