Friend of attacked DeKalb student talks

WATERLOO, Ind. (WANE) - Last Friday, a fight in the hallway of Dekalb High school left one student in the Intensive Care Unit and another facing charges.

One student hit a 17-year-old junior in the head. He was last listed in critical condition in the ICU with bleeding in the brain. Sophomore Brandy Bennett, 17, is friends with the victim. 

"He's smart, caring, he loves his friends," Bennett said.

Bennett and the boy who was beat up both moved to Dekalb High School from Prairie Heights in LaGrange. Bennett came last December and her friend arrived a week before the attack.

"I was helping him out because if you're different people don't like you and he was very different," Bennett said. "He talks different, he dresses different and acts different, but once you get to know him, he's a sweet boy deep down. He's just putting on a front because he's afraid to let people in."

Bennett said she was also the target of bullies at DeKalb High School. She added the school didn't to much to help her. When she told the school about a girl threatening her, Bennett said the girl didn't stop until Bennett got the police involved.

"It's not right because people shouldn't be afraid to go to school. I thought about dropping out because of all the threats and bullying going on," Bennett said.

Now Bennett is organizing fundraisers to help her friend's family pay hospital bills. She wants to have penny wars between classes at school, put coin buckets in area stores and she hopes to have a walk-a-thon in April.

"Maybe if he knows people are walking for him, it will help him have courage and he'll make it through this," she said.

Bennett also hopes the school will now take notice of a bigger problem.

"If nothing happens, I'm afraid people will bring weapons to take the matters into their own hands," she said. "I hope the kid who did this is in trouble for a long time."

Last Friday, the superintendent of DeKalb Central Schools told NewsChannel 15 that the district is extremely concerned about what happened. She said the fight could be grounds for expulsion, and that the school will cooperate with any investigation and prosecution.

Police said the teen who threw the punch is in the Allen County Juvenile Center, facing an initial charge of battery.