VERO BEACH — A Freshman Learning Center student is hospitalized in stable condition with a head injury after being hit by another male student in a classroom on Monday, according to the Indian River County Sheriff's Office.
The assailant was released from custody on a misdemeanor charge on Monday after the incident. But on Friday, the State Attorney's Office filed a felony battery charge against the 15-year-old student, said Assistant State Attorney Lynn Sloan. The student's court date hasn't yet been set and he has been not detained.
His name has not been released.
If convicted, he could be assigned to everything from probation to a residential Department of Juvenile Justice program until he is 21, Sloan said.
The victim's head injuries were so severe he was flown on Monday to St. Mary's Hospital in West Palm Beach.
The incident started at 10:45 a.m. in a room where students are sent for discipline. The victim started making comments about the assailant's brother and they argued. The classroom teacher attempted to intervene but the assailant hit the other student and pushed his head into the floor, said sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Thom Raulen.
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