Michigan - A 10-year-old Michigan boy faces an aggravated assault charge after injuring a classmate at the end of a schoolyard game, a charge that prosecutors believe they have enough evidence to support.
The 10-year-old allegedly threw a ball at a 9-year-old classmate, "intentionally hitting the 9-year-old with force causing an injury," Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor Maria Miller said in a telephone interview.
The toss caused a concussion along with facial abrasions, prosecutors allege. Juvenile Court Referee Nicholas Bobak will preside over a pretrial hearing for the case Thursday in Michigan's 3rd Circuit.
The children were playing a game known as "tips" at Ruth Eriksson Elementary School in Canton, Michigan, on April 29. In the game, players throw a ball into the air, jump up to catch it and throw it again before touching the ground. Prosecutors allege that after the game, the 10-year-old threw a ball at the 9-year-old with malicious intent.
In an interview with Detroit ABC affiliate WXYZ, the injured child's mother said her son suffered a black eye and bruised nose. A medical evaluation later found a concussion.
The mother said her son has a medical condition that makes blows to the head very dangerous. She said he had previously been hit twice in the face with a ball during the school year before the April 29 instance. She reported the matter to police, who referred it to prosecutors.
"This case was looked at and the evidence showed that the child intentionally threw the ball with force when he acted," Miller said. "That is the allegation, that it was not during the course of play, it was not accidental."
The Washington Post is not naming either child involved, because they are juveniles.
A Facebook fundraiser for a legal-defense fund for the 10-year-old has raised more than $14,000 in seven days. The child's mother had set a goal of $4,000 on the online effort.
The 10-year-old was suspended from school for one day after the game, according to WXYZ. And then last Wednesday, his mother got a call from the juvenile court system.
"I couldn't believe it," the woman told the station.