Mother says school did little after son was strangled from behind at Kingwood Park High School

KINGWOOD, Texas - A Kingwood mother says her son was assaulted and strangled in school. She claims the district isn't doing enough to help keep her son safe.

Larissa Powell said it all started last Tuesday when one kid hit her 14-year-old son, Ben, with his backpack. Ben, a freshman at Kingwood Park High School, apparently told the kid he was going to report him. Another kid then intervened and told him not to and threatened to hurt him.

Ben and the second kid then got in argument and were separated by the teacher in class. But minutes later, Ben was reportedly ambushed from behind and strangled.

Larissa said Ben called her to tell her he'd been strangled in class by another student and sent her photos of his neck, which now had red marks.

"It's every parent's worst fear. ‘Mom don't freakout, but I was hurt at school,'" Powell said.       

"The other student took his lanyard off and came up behind Benjamin and choked him," Powell described.

Larissa rushed her son to the ER. Doctors there said he'd received skin burns from a choking injury. During an interview with the assistant principals and Humble ISD Police, Larissa said Ben brushed it off and tried to act tough but later broke down in the car.

"He was like, 'I took it like a man.' Yeah, like a typical teenage boy answer. He got in the car and he said, ‘Mom I thought I was going to die. I thought I'd never see you again,' and I just broke down," Powell said.

Larissa said she was told the other kid received the maximum punishment possible, but doesn't feel like the school did enough to protect her son.

"They dropped the ball. They failed my son and they failed the child that attacked him because to strangle somebody-- that's serious. That's not okay and clearly this child needs some sort of help," Powell said.

Humble ISD spokesperson Jamie Mount said the district took all appropriate action as necessary.

"We brought in administrators. We investigated. We brought in police and extra discipline was assigned. Information was presented to the Harris County District Attorney's office and they did not accept the charges," Powell said.

As for why the DA's office did not accept charges, the department said they cannot comment on cases involving minors.

The school has also told Larissa they'll switch the two boys' schedule around to limit their interaction in the future.