A 16-year-old from Texas is reportedly still unconscious in the hospital after being brutally beaten by his peers at a party last week. The victim’s family claims the attack was a setup.
What are the details?
Cole Hagen, a varsity football player and junior student at Brazoswood High School, about an hour south of Houston, was allegedly lured to a party before being attacked by his “supposed friends” on Friday, according to his older brother, Cory.
Cory Hagen told KPRC-TV over the weekend that sometime after his younger brother arrived at the party, he was coaxed to go outside and check his truck because it allegedly had been damaged. But once outside, Cory claims that one or more teens jumped his brother and severely beat him, one allegedly striking him in the back of the head with a “blunt object.”
On Monday, police in Lake Jackson, Texas, arrested fellow Brazoswood High School student Reid Mitchell, 17, and charged him with aggravated assault for his role in the attack.
After knocking him unconscious, the attackers then left him for dead in the street, Cory claimed. He went on to say that soon after the beating, the suspected “ring leader” texted his brother’s close friend and said, “Go get your boy out of the street.”
KPRC reported that Cole was later found suffering from three fractures to his skull and was transported to the Memorial Hermann Hospital. As of Monday afternoon, he remained in the hospital’s intensive care unit, still unconscious.
16-year-old Brazoswood HS student unconscious after being attacked by peers, family says
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What else?
Cory told the local news outlet that he and his family believe the attack was planned earlier in the week and that the incident involved Cole’s relationship with a girl at the school.
The family is now pleading with members of the community to come forward with any information and are offering a $20,000 cash reward for anyone who may have video of the assault.
“What I am feeling is … it’s a roller coaster of the most extreme grief you can imagine. To see him hurt and for him to be attacked in this senseless act of brutality, it’s unimaginable,” Cory Hagen told KPRC.
In a statement confirming the assault, Brazoswood High School said, “We are aware that a Brazoswood High School student was the victim of an off-campus assault at a Lake Jackson residence by another Brazoswood student over the weekend. The student involved will not be on campus.”
KPRC reported on Monday that “police believe the identity of all those involved has been established and other charges are pending.” The investigation is still ongoing.