Tag: Houston
Houston teen dies by suicide after she was rescued from sex trafficking ring
A 15-year-old Houston girl killed herself after she was rescued from a sex trafficking ring, according to a report.
Leticia “Letty” Serrano took her own life Saturday two years after her horrific ordeal, news station KTRK reported.
“I feel like I let her down,” her grandmother Cynthia Rivera told the news outlet.
Serrano was only 13 years old when she was drugged and sold to sex traffickers, KTRK reported. She was later found at Moody Park, but her family said she was never the same.
“We got her back damaged,” Rivera said.
Her family is speaking out to raise awareness about the prevalence of sex trafficking.
“We as a community and the system failed this young lady and her family once. Let’s not do it again,” her grandmother wrote on a Facebook page to spread the word.
Photo Credit: Facebook
Boy, 15, and best friend found dead in apparent murder-suicide
A Houston mother found her teen son and his best friend fatally shot Thursday in an apparent murder-suicide, police said.
The boy and his friend, both 15, were found dead inside the upscale Park at River Oaks apartment complex by his mother when she came home around 5 p.m., police told the Houston Chronicle.
It’s unclear which of the boys shot the other before turning the gun on himself. But the mom who discovered the grisly scene told investigators that her son was “going through chronic mental issues,” according to Assistant Police Chief Henry Gaw.
The boy’s mother had spoken to him earlier Thursday and nothing seemed to be off. He lived in the apartment with his mother and older brother, and the firearm used in the shooting belonged to the family, Gaw said.
Investigators wouldn’t say whether there were signs of a struggle prior to the shooting or whether a note was left behind, KTRK reports.
“It’s a very sad scene,” Gaw told the station. “You have two 15-year-olds who are dead.”
The teens attended Lamar High School, where crisis counselors were expected to help students start the grieving process on Friday, according to the station.
“We extend our deepest sympathies to each student’s family and friends, as well as the school community,” Houston Independent School District officials said in a statement.
A medical examiner is expected to perform autopsies on Friday, KPRC reports.
via: https://nypost.com/2018/11/09/boy-15-and-best-friend-found-dead-in-apparent-murder-suicide/
School superintendent on Texans star: ‘You can’t count on a black QB’
A school superintendent in Texas said he thought he was sending a private message when he wrote a public Facebook post blasting Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson, stating, “you can’t count on a black quarterback.”
Lynn Redden, superintendent of the Onalaska Independent School District, made the comment in reference to the final play of the Texans’ 20-17 loss on Sunday to the Tennessee Titans during which Watson held onto the ball before completing a pass to receiver DeAndre Hopkins as time expired, leaving no time to try a last-second, game-tying field goal.
“That may have been the most inept quarterback decision I’ve seen in the NFL,” Redden wrote on a Facebook post promoting a Houston Chronicle story about the game. “When you need precision decision making you can’t count on a black quarterback.”
But Redden didn’t realize that the post was public. He later deleted his comment and told the Chronicle he wishes he never shared that sentiment.
“I totally regret it,” Redden told the newspaper.
Redden, who oversees 1,130 students and 175 staffers as the district’s superintendent, did not immediately return a message seeking comment from The Post early Tuesday. He had not faced any discipline in connection with the remark as of Monday afternoon but told the Chronicle he understands how people may consider it to be racist.
Redden said he was referring to the statistical success of black quarterbacks in the NFL.
“Over the history of the NFL, they have had limited success,” he told the newspaper.
Doug Williams in 1988 became the league’s first black quarterback to lead his team to a championship, taking the Washington Redskins over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXII. Williams, who started the season as a backup, was named the game’s MVP after completing 18-of-29 passes for 340 yards and four touchdowns.
More recently, in 2014, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson became the second black quarterback to win it all, beating the Denver Broncos 43-8 in his second season as a pro.
The eagle-eyed reader who caught Redden’s comment, meanwhile, said he hopes there are repercussions to follow.
“It’s important to make sure horrible words are met with consequences, especially for those in powerful positions with influence,” reader Matt Erickson told the newspaper.
Watson, for his part, said the Titans simply countered with “good coverage” during the game’s waning seconds, according to ESPN.
Asked if he should’ve thrown the ball away earlier, he said: “Of course.
“But while you’re playing … you can sit back and sit in your seats and say that I needed to throw the ball away,” Watson said. “But we tried to take a shot and we didn’t have any timeouts and they guarded the sideline very well. So my instincts took over and tried to get the ball and time ran out.”
Coach Bill O’Brien instead took most of the blame.
“We’re just trying to get it into field goal range and just trying to — we’ve got to do a better job of coaching that play up,” O’Brien told reporters.
via: https://nypost.com/2018/09/18/school-superintendent-on-texans-star-you-cant-count-on-a-black-qb/
Ex-school employee: I lost my virginity to a 15-year-old student
A former middle school employee in Houston admitted losing her virginity to a 15-year-old student, saying she loved him “with all of her heart,” court documents reveal.
Hannah Parisa Siboyeh, who worked as a paraprofessional at Labay Middle School, was arrested last week after confessing to investigators that she had the illicit relationship, which she characterized as “one mistake after another,” the Houston Chronicle reported.
Siboyeh, 24, told authorities that she lost her virginity to the former student — who is now in high school — at the school during the summer of 2017 and later had sex with the teen at his house, in a park and at a hotel in Houston, according to the report.
“She admitted that she loved [the boy] with all of her heart,” court documents obtained by the newspaper show.
Police were tipped off about the relationship by an assistant principal in April. The administrator said an anonymous tipster told her about a sexual relationship between a district employee and a male student, detailing a visit to the teen’s house during which the tipster reported seeing the student and Siboyeh lying in bed together.
The informant also reported “weird noises” coming from the room while she was there, according to charging documents that reveal additional witnesses also confirmed Siboyeh and the teen were in a boyfriend-and-girlfriend-type relationship.
Siboyeh, who is facing charges of an improper relationship with a student and sexual assault of a child, appeared in court Monday after posting $10,000 bond. She was ordered by a judge to stay away from the boy and his relatives. She must also stay away from any child care facility, school or residence where the boy resides, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Investigators recovered several explicit images of Siboyeh and the boy on her phone, as well as video of the two having sex, KPRC reports.
Siboyeh, meanwhile, got emotional after leaving court Monday with her attorney, according to the station. Attorney Robert Kelton said the former paraprofessional, who also worked as a substitute teacher, is very nervous due to the allegations and potential prison time she faces — up to 17 years if convicted on both charges she faces.
Kelton also claimed that the boy’s family did not want charges filed against Siboyeh, KIAH reports.
Siboyeh, who has since been removed from her position, is due back in court Nov. 11.
via: https://nypost.com/2018/09/11/ex-school-employee-i-lost-my-virginity-to-a-15-year-old-student/
Houston student kicked out of her high school for sitting during Pledge of Allegiance
A 17-year-old Houston student was booted from her high school after refusing to stand for the daily Pledge of Allegiance, a federal lawsuit charges.
India Landry had sat for the Pledge hundreds of times at Windfern High School without incident, she said. However, she was immediately shown the door by school Principal Martha Strother on Monday while in her office after declining to stand for the Pledge.
Administrators at the school had “recently been whipped into a frenzy” by the controversy caused by NFL players kneeling for the national anthem, according to the lawsuit. NFL players had recently taken action to protest some of President Trump’s statements.
The lawsuit also charges that India was told after she was expelled that “if your mom does not get here in five minutes the police are coming.”
“I was actually terrified, I see what’s going on with the country,” India’s mother Kizzy told the Daily News on Saturday. “That scared the hell out of me. I thought let me hurry up and get to my baby before something happens to her.”
India, a senior, was allowed to return to the school on Friday, but feels uncomfortable about what happened. She missed the Pledge on Friday, but said she plans to continue sitting for it next week. The lawsuit against the Cypress Fairbanks ISD school district states that students cannot be forced to stand for the Pledge, and that the school had no right to kick out India.
“Students cannot be instantly expelled except for being a danger,” lawyer Randall Kallinen said. “The only danger appeared to be that her sitting whipped Principal Strother into a political frenzy.”
India tells The News that she started sitting for the pledge in ninth grade. She said that “police brutality” and “Donald Trump being President” motivates her to do it, and she was surprised when she got in trouble for it.
“I said I wouldn’t, and they said you are kicked out of here,” India told the Daily News. “The other woman said this isn’t the NFL, you won’t do this here.”
“I never told her to do this,” her mom said. “I’m proud of her for standing up to what she believes in. She said she hopes it just brings awareness of what is going on.”
Nicole Ray, a spokeswoman for the school district said she was not aware of the lawsuit and noted a “student will not be removed from campus for refusing to stand for the Pledge.
“We will address this situation internally,” said Ray.