‘She’s Still Not Herself’: Outraged Minnesota Mom Says Kindergartener Was Given ‘Poisonous Candies’ That Left Her Unable to Recognize Her Twin and School Did Not Seek Medical Help

An elementary school in Minneapolis is coming under scrutiny by the local community after a kindergartener was allegedly “poisoned” by a classmate during school hours.

Rachel Hodges told reporters last week that on Monday, May 6, she received a call from Nellie Stone Johnson Elementary School, which her daughter Da’Kyah attends, telling Hodges that her 6-year-old had thrown up and appeared to be having seizures.

When Hodges arrived, Da’Kyah was shaking, having trouble walking, and disoriented, the mother said.

Minnesota Mom Says Kindergartener Given 'Street Drug' By Classmate, School Did Not Call EMS After the Child Became Disoriented
Rachel Hodges says her daughter Da’Kyah had to be hospitalized after another child gave her two pills at Nellie Stone Johnson Elementary School in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo: Facebook/Rachel Hodges)

“She didn’t know who I was,” Hodges told local station WCCO. “She didn’t know my mom. She has a twin. She didn’t know him. I’ve never even seen a child act that way,” she continued. “And it’s just sad because she’s scared of me, and I’m her mom.”

According to posts on Hodges’ social media account, the school did not call emergency medical services, and the mom drove her little girl to the local hospital’s emergency room instead. According to Hodges, the doctors immediately ruled out a seizure, and they are still waiting on bloodwork results to determine the medical cause of her symptoms.

Da’Kyah told her mother that another child in her class gave her brightly colored pills, telling her it was candy.

“But she pranked me,” Da’Kyah said to CBS affiliate WCCO.

“After I ate them, she said, ‘Ha, just kidding. They’re poisonous candies.’ My body was hurting, and yeah, it was scary.”

Da’Kyah’s symptoms included episodes of bizarre behavior, mood changes, and hallucinations that are still continuing on and off, according to her mom.

Many in the local community are outraged — and Hodge’s voice is chief among them, questioning how this could have happened on school grounds, much less in a kindergarten class.

On her official Facebook account, the shaken mother asked people to step forward with information and blasted the school for alleged negligence. In one post on May 7, Hodges wrote:

“A kindergartner forced my daughter to take a street drug in class when the teacher stepped out of the room then bullied and punched her. He told her it was candy and would give her superpowers. He said would black her eye if she wouldn’t eat it. My 6 year old overdosed and had a seizure at school. Nobody knew why my daughter was having seizures and throwing up. NO EMS was called. I transported my own kid to the ER while shaking and in shock. She is still NOT herself. Please share parents need to know what is going on at Nellie Stone Johnson! Minneapolis Public Schools Nellie Stone Johnson Community School.”

It is unclear why Hodges’ description of the incident on social media differs from the one her daughter described to reporters.

A reporter from WCCO said he had contacted and emailed Minneapolis Public Schools multiple times this week for comment but had yet to hear back as of May 8. Meanwhile, Hodges alleged on social media that the school denied the poisonous candy incident happened, saying it was a misunderstanding.  

There’s been an outpouring of support for Hodges and her daughter on social media, with comments flooding the mother’s Facebook page. In response to a post on May 9, one wrote, “To the parent of the child that kid brought that to school just come forward and be honest with it just do your duty as a parent to make it right this child shouldn’t have to suffer for our mistakes as a community.”

After the incident, the police assessed Da’Kyah and noticed her eyes were dilated. “Her eyes were crossed and bugged really big, and they knew she had to have ingested something she shouldn’t have,” said Hodges.

A spokesperson for the Minneapolis police stated: “In accordance with normal procedure for processing a report involving young children, this case has been referred to Child Protective Services (CPS). MPD will continue to partner with CPS as this case moves forward.”

Meanwhile, according to Hodges’s Facebook account, on May 9, Da’Kyah was still in the hospital experiencing intermittent episodes. “It just breaks my heart so bad,” she wrote.

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