Crowd protests DA’s handling of Woodland Hills probe
A crowd of protesters on Friday called on Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen A. Zappala Jr. to recuse himself from investigating an alleged case of abuse in the Woodland Hills School District, saying they want state Attorney General Josh Shapiro to take it over.
The Alliance for Police Accountability held the rally at which about 60 people also called on Mr. Zappala to drop the charges against three students who claim they were abused at the hands of a Woodland Hills principal and school resource officer.
“This is an iceberg,” said Summer Lee, a Swissvale resident and an alumna of Woodland Hills High School who was among those chanting and waving signs outside the Allegheny County Courthouse. “That means there’s more underneath.”
Three students have said in recent months that they were mistreated by principal Kevin Murray and school resource Officer Steve Shaulis, an officer with the Churchill Police Department.
Attorney Todd Hollis, who represents the three students, released an audio recording in the fall of Mr. Murray threatening to
knock out the teeth of one boy.
Last week, he released surveillance video of the two other students engaging with Officer Shaulis. One of the students, Que’Chawn Wade, was hit so hard his front tooth fell out. The other student, in 2015, was pinned to the floor by Mr. Murray while the officer shocked him with a Taser.
Each of those students was charged in juvenile court. The district attorney’s office is investigating whether Officer Shaulis used excessive force against Que’Chawn. Mr. Murray was put on paid leave and reinstated in January after an investigation of the audio recording was conducted. Last month, the Woodland Hills school board appointed him as head football coach.
“We have some grave concerns about the way justice is carried out, which is why we are standing here today,” said the Rev. Richard Wingfield, pastor of Unity Baptist Church in Braddock.
The crowd also questioned why Mr. Zappala was quick this week to charge Joseph Golden III, a behavioral specialist at Rankin Promise, with simple assault and endangering a child, when he did not charge Mr. Murray and is still investigating Officer Shaulis. Mr. Golden, who was recorded on surveillance video dragging a student by the neck in April, is black. Mr. Murray and Officer Shaulis are white.
“Zappala has been an enabler ... by giving administrators and police a free pass,” said Tina Doose, president of the Braddock Borough Council.
Mr. Zappala told reporters this week that a call to the ChildLine abuse hotline enabled his investigators to act more quickly on Mr. Golden’s case.
The investigation of Officer Shaulis, he said, will take more time because it involves “civil rights issues.”
District attorney spokesman Mike Manko said the office receives more than 150 referrals from the ChildLine abuse hotline a week, and all are promptly reviewed and investigated. The office received ChildLine referrals for Que’Chawn and the student who was shocked with a Taser in 2015.
“As has been stated previously, those assets, both state and federal, are working on the situation in the Woodland Hills School District and any decisions involving child abuse will be based on the available evidence as well as any additional evidence developed during the investigation,” he said in a statement.