Bx. HS stabber in harass suit
A bullied Bronx teenager charged with fatally stabbing one high school classmate and slashing another is suing the city and the Department of Education for failing to protect him from a yearslong pattern of “severe harassment” by fellow students because he’s gay.
The lawsuit filed Thursday says Abel Cedeno, who was hit with manslaughter and other charges for the 2017 attack on the students inside a classroom, says he was subjected to taunts, intimidation, theft and physical violence from sixth grade all the way up to high school — and teachers and staff at the four schools he attended in that time repeatedly failed to intervene or help him.
“Over the course of many years and continuing through many grade levels, Abel was subjected to egregious bullying by peers based upon his sex, gender ... or perceived sexual orientation,” the court documents says.
“Almost all DOE employee(s) including hall monitors, teachers, guidance counselors, school and district administrators did nothing. All failed to report the egregious and continuous conduct as required under various laws, regulations and ordinances.”
The suit details an “escalating pattern of bullying” that began in sixth grade, when Cedeno (photo top) started to grow his hair long in order to donate his locks to children with cancer and was subjected to kids pulling his hair and “calling him a girl.”
The anti-gay bullying, which included being called a “f----t, ” being punched, kicked, and having his book bag and coat stolen, worsened as Cedeno attended middle school and then high school at Urban Assembly School for Wildlife Conservation, the suit says.
It was at Wildlife, blocks from the Bronx Zoo in West Farms, where Cedeno, then 18, allegedly pulled a knife during class and stabbed 15-year-old classmate Matthew McCree to death on Sept. 27, 2017, after he says McCree (photo below) punched him in the face.
Cedeno told authorities he finally snapped and acted in self-defense after McCree, classmate Ariane Laboy and other students called him names and pelted him with pens and other items while two teachers just stood by. Laboy was slashed and hospitalized.
The suit, which seeks unspecified damages, says Cedeno has “sustained substantial emotional damage” that will “continue throughout his life.”
Cedeno’s Lawyer Tom Shanahan said his client’s experiences in the public schools were a nightmare of bullying and harassment.
“No matter what he did, it got consistently worse,” Shanahan explained. “Reporting it didn’t help, it made it worse.”
Shanahan said Cedeno, 19, is living with a relative while out on bail.
The families of his two victims insist the boys never bullied him. And police have said they’ve uncovered no evidence that any such bullying occurred.
McCree’s family filed a lawsuit against Cedeno, the NYPD and the DOE for $25 million last summer, claiming wrongful death because the NYPD and DOE failed to monitor students.
City Education Department spokeswoman Miranda Barbot said the city will review Cedeno’s suit.
“Our students deserve to feel safe and supported in our schools, and any allegation of bullying must be treated with the utmost seriousness,” Barbot said. “Bullying can impact a student’s social and emotional well-being, and we’re committed to preventing and addressing it in our schools.”