The family of a teenager who died 19 days after he was attacked at Ballou High School said he had been bullied for years.
Joevon Patterson-Smith spent weeks in and out of the hospital after the classroom attack.
For now, DC Police are calling the case a death investigation, family members call what happened to Joevon murder.
“I was devastated to see him like that,” LaTisha Paige-Davis said. “His mom couldn’t even take being at the bedside to see him going through that.”
It was hard for Paige-Davis, who is Joevon’s cousin, to hold it together as she relived the painful moments.
She said Joevon was brutally attacked inside of Ballou High School three weeks ago.
“Kick him all in his head, taze him, leave the school and — they did stuff after school to him as well,” Paige-Davis told WUSA9.
Paige recalled the 17-year-old, who lived with special needs, was bullied for years.
The behavior was plastered on Joevon’s Instagram where people commented nerd, idiot, and other expletives.
“His parents made complaints to the school,” Paige-Davis said. “Obviously, nothing was done because the kids kept doing— these same kids kept bullying him.”
According to the police report, Joevon was jumped because he did not let other students use his cellphone.
Family members said they took the teen never told them about the beating, but they took him to the hospital the next day when he started coughing and spitting up.
Joevon started having seizures and was admitted to the hospital three times in the last three weeks.
Joevon went to Children’s National Emergency Department at United Medical Center on January 11th and was airlifted to Washington Hospital Center.
Paige-Davis told WUSA9 the teen was released six days later on January 17th.
Joevon began having seizures soon after being discharged on January 17th.
Family members took the teen to Children’s National Medical Center the next day, he was sent home the same day and began experiencing seizure activity again.
Paige-Davis said Joevon’s father took him back to Children’s National Emergency Department at United Medical Center in Southeast DC on January 19th.
The teen was airlifted again to Children’s National Medical Center in Northwest, D.C.
“They were able to see that it was swelling in the front of the brain,” Paige-Davis explained doctors took several tests. “My mother called me and told me they said Joevon not going to make it.”
Paige-Davis said Joevon’s brain herniated, he was declared brain dead and died on Monday, January 29th.
The high school senior was pronounced dead 19 days after he was attacked at Ballou.
“These kids took his life. They definitely took his life. They need to pay for it. They need to be made an example because this cannot keep going on,” Paige-Davis said.
“I just hope and pray that whoever was involved do the right thing,” BJ Paige told WUSA9.
BJ Paige is also Joevon’s family member and a community activist in Maryland.
BJ Paige advocates for victims of violent crimes but never thought he would be in the position of the families he helps every day.
“Not for something of this stature. Not because of a child in my family. No,” he said.
There are no arrests and no charges in the case because DC police are still investigating.
“That’s really pissing me off. This was a murder. This was a homicide. This was not just a death,” Latisha Paige-Davis said.
Joevon – who had two younger brothers -- was described as a shy, happy young man who loved to eat and dress to impress.
“He loved his family, his father, his mother— but nobody else is going to be able to see that,” BJ Paige told WUSA9.
Family members wanted someone to be held accountable for Joevon’s death.
Police told WUSA9 they are waiting on autopsy results to figure out exactly how Joevon died.
The medical examiner’s office confirmed an autopsy was completed within the first 24 hours of them receiving Joevon’s body, but it is unclear when the report might be released.
A spokesperson with DC Public Schools has refused to comment on this case and has referred all of WUSA9’s questions to police.
CLICK HERE to support a fundraiser to help Joevon's family with his funeral.
