Unsurprisingly, the 5-year-old girl named AvaLynn has a very different story than the one the school went with. According to her account, another child repeatedly kicked her in the face while she was playing on a slide. After several blows, she let go and fell to the ground. The mother, Lacey Harris, says that Arlington Elementary School denies this despite admitting that no teacher was present at the time of the incident and have no real way of knowing what happened.
Concerned friends and family of AvaLynn set up a Facebook page called “Justice for AvaLynn” to document Harris’ fight for answers and to spread the word. Their efforts appear to be working. On Friday, the hashtag “#JusticeforAvaLynn” began trending on Twitter and the pictures of girl’s injuries were shared around the world.
Pascagoula Police Department Lt. Jim Roe told Gulf Live that officers have investigated it but because it is the girl’s word against the teachers it will be hard to find fault.
The school is sticking to the “she fell” defense. Administrators released a statement to parents on the matter after outrage started to build:
“A student was injured while playing on the playground at Arlington Elementary School Tuesday afternoon. School officials responded to the situation. The parent was contacted and the student received medical treatment. No other children were involved in the incident. The Pascagoula School District remains committed to the safety of all its students.”
Due to the lack of traction Harris has gotten from police or the school, she is seeking the help of attorneys and has said that she can no longer post as many updates about AvaLynn’s condition until the legal process is worked through. In the meantime, AvaLynn has required lots of medical attention, and the family has set up a GoFundMe page to help raise money for the expenses. As of this today, the fund has raised over $7,000.
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