Breyanna Brown and her mom, Linkya, sat together on a park bench on a sunny day in Prairie Village, Kansas, visibly relieved when talking to a local reporter on May 29. News had just come in that a Shawnee Mission East student pleaded guilty to a felony count of aggravated battery causing great bodily harm.
The teen boy broke Breyanna’s nose, repeatedly using the N-word in a hallway fight at their high school that was caught on video. The disturbing incident quickly went viral, and now Linkya and her daughter Breyanna will see justice done.
“There (are) consequences for every action. We teach all of our kids that, and they need to teach him that. Now he’s learning it, but he’s learning it the hard way,” Linyka told Fox4 reporter Malik Jackson, who noted that he broke the news to the family since they had not yet been informed by the District Attorney’s office about the guilty plea.
“I’m just excited about it because I feel like that is closing a chapter for Breyanna. He pled guilty, and she can move on. We started moving with her switching schools, but this is just a breath of fresh air,” said the embattled mother.
Unfortunately, Breyanna’s torment did not end after the assault six months ago when she was 15. In the interview on Fox4, the teen described why she felt compelled to transfer to another high school. “It put us through a lot of stress. It just made me feel like I wasn’t safe anywhere I would be at. Like at school and in the hallways and stuff.”
After enduring six months of fear and chaos, Linkya has advice that she hopes will prevent racist and violent behavior in other schools.
“If you know there is racism, and you have other people there, just don’t sweep it under the rug, take it serious, because if you don’t, this could happen again or something even worse, and we’re sending our kids to you, and you’re supposed to protect our kids. We need you to do that,” urged the mom.
The assault led to local and countywide protests and even sparked a school walkout organized by the students of Shawnee Mission East. Many students claimed they didn’t feel safe at the school, pointing to previous incidents where the school administrators allegedly ignored concerns regarding racism on campus.
In the viral video, the white teen boy yells, “Shut the f—k up” to Breyanna in the school hallway. He continues to use slurs as the two approach each other, and the boy makes the first move by violently shoving Breyanna.
The boy’s father, Nicholas Rosaly, weighed in on the video to the media at the time, saying, “I’m upset. My son hit a girl. That’s one, but two, I was mad that he opened his mouth or anything of that sort because he should just wait and get a teacher.”
His son, who was suspended, also got a wounded eye and concussion as a result of the altercation, local news reported. This was allegedly not the first time this particular student had been in conflict with a Black student.
Ultimately, justice was only done with the long arm of the law. The 16-year-old boy’s sentencing hearing is set for June 20.
“It made me very happy to hear that he finally admitted what he did was wrong,” Breyanna said.
