CONROE, Texas — Parents and family members of 7-year-old Kendrick Davis are trying to get answers from investigators on why they ruled out the allegation of their son being abused by a school employee in Montgomery County.
The case had been forwarded to the Grimes County District Attorney's Office after Montgomery County recused itself, citing a conflict of interest with the school employee who is involved in the complaint.
On April 1, the family was outside the Grimes County Courthouse to ask why charges were not filed. Grimes County released a statement, saying it did not press charges against the school employee because the evidence presented was not enough to convince a jury beyond a reasonable doubt that the employee abused the 7-year-old.
Kendrick's parents, Brittney Leveston and Kendrick Davis Sr., took their questions back to Montgomery County and at the doors of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services.
They said they wanted to talk to someone about the decision to not press charges, but the door was locked and no one came to talk with the family.
"What I saw on that video was disturbing. I saw my son being abused for over 10 minutes," Leveston said.
Kendrick’s parents said their son was pulled by his arms and legs, then dragged across the floor after being left alone with an employee at Madeley Ranch Elementary School in Montgomery County.
The Video:
The video of what happened between the school employee and Kendrick was shared with the family. KAGS is declining to name the employee due to they have not been charged with a crime at this time. There is no audio with the video.
This is 4:14 seconds of the nearly 30 minute video and shows an unedited interaction between Kendrick and the employee. We will also be putting up the video in its entirety on our YouTube channel.
In the video, you can see Kendrick near the door on the floor. The school employee is sitting at a desk across the room. The employee then gets up and goes to Kendrick. The parents told KAGS they were told Kendrick was pulling tape up from the floor.
It appears that Kendrick stands up and tries to open the door to the room, however, the employee takes ahold of him and Kendrick then goes to the floor. Watching the video at this part does not give a clear picture if the employee put Kendrick on the floor or if he went on his own.
The employee is then seen grabbing Kendrick and pulling him by his arm. Kendrick appears to resist the employee, who then grabs him by the arm and the leg and lifts him in the air for a brief moment and puts him back on the ground.
Kendrick again resists the employee, who struggles with him for a moment, then appears to hold him down on the ground. Kendrick then tries to get up but the employee continues to wrestle him to the ground. Kendrick tries to get up a third time, but the employee again wrestles and holds him to the ground.
The video we have obtained is not clear and you are not able to see how the employee is holding him or in what position. The employee holds Kendrick down for nearly three minutes before he is let up and another school employee comes into the room.
No criminal charges were brought against the employee but the family is asking for that to change. They came to DFPS, asking for the Montgomery County investigator, Barry Gresham, to reinvestigate this case and do something.
"These people they're wrong, they need to be held accountable," Leveston said. "Barry Gresham he needs to get out here and speak with us."
The official document the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services filed ruled out the allegation of abuse. It is the agency's opinion that abuse did not occur. We reached out to the investigator who made that ruling but did not get a response at this time.
DFPS, however, gave an official statement that said it completed the investigation and sent their findings to both Montgomery ISD and the Texas Education Agency.
Montgomery ISD stated that it took immediate action to remove the employee off school grounds and placed them on administrative leave. After investigating the video, the school board voted to terminate the employee.
The employee has appealed the decision and the hearing was done last week, however, the status is not yet known.
Kendrick's parents believe there is more to the story over what happened. They are confused as to why the school would terminate the employment, but why the employee isn't facing legal charges.
"We have a videotape that is showing something different so that's what's led us to this point, because this woman, she needs to be held accountable," Leveston said. "She needs to be in jail. There needs to be an arrest made."
Kendrick's father said they aren't giving up their quest for justice. "We're willing to go as far as we have to go so if we got to go federal or we got to go whatever. Wherever the journey leads up that's where we're gonna go," he said.
Other stories on kagstv.com