Who was Romy Vilsaint? Late NYC boy's dad blames 12-year-old's classmates who bullied, hit him in the head for $1
BROOKLYN, NEW YORK CITY: A devastated father whose 12-year-old son died on Friday, May 7, has blamed his classmates for the tragedy. It has been said that Romy Vilsaint, who attended Public School 361 — The Nostrand School — was bullied and assaulted at school for two consecutive days, including one attack made on a $1 dare.
“They beat my son in the school. They killed him. Oh God, I lost my son, I lost my son,” Romain Vilsaint said in Creole while his neighbor translated. Reports said that the child’s condition was not good at his home in Flatbush when on May 7 he was rushed to Kings County Hospital where he died. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) is now looking into the case.
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Speaking of his deceased son, who moved to the US from Haiti in 2017, Vilsaint stated, “He is my only son, only one.” The grieving father also added that Romy’s mother, who lives in Haiti, told him, “Send my son back (to) Haiti,” so she can bury them there, before declining to say anything more.
Romy’s cousin, Roodwiny Exantus, 28, said that he told him about the alleged attacks he faced in school on May 5 and May 6 from boys believed to be his classmates. “He stated that he got jumped by two kids on Wednesday, and on Thursday, he got hit in the back of the head real hard. The principal asked the kid why he did that. The kids were like he got paid a dollar to do that. He had a severe headache, and he had to spend the rest of the day in the nurse’s office in the school,” Exantus explained.
The boy’s family members have also pointed fingers at the school. They asked when Romy was sent to the nurse’s office on Thursday, May 6, complaining of a terrible headache, why wasn't he taken to a hospital. It has been reported that the child also sent a voicemail to his father from the nurse’s office in which he said, “Hello Daddy,” and added that he had “a huge headache” and a guy “hit me real hard” in the back of his head. “To me, they did something wrong. If the kid got hit in the head, couldn’t come back to class and you’re told it’s severe, you don’t need to wait for his dad’s permission. Just take him out to the hospital,” Exantus mentioned as he noted, “He was a lovable guy, like fun. If it was a bully situation that led to the fight, that has to stop.”
Exantus also recalled Romy’s final moments. He said, “He had a severe headache. He started vomiting. My mom [Romy’s aunt] found the vomit in the bucket and gave him a shower. She said he couldn’t walk. I wanted to take him to the hospital, but Uber was taking too long. He was begging for water. I called an ambulance. They arrived and said they were doing CPR and that’s when I knew he was gone. I couldn’t believe he was gone so fast. He was in cardiac arrest. His heart stopped. He didn’t have any medical problems. He was good until Thursday.”
Meanwhile, the Department of Education said that they have given the case to an “independent body” for probe. “This is a horrible tragedy and our thoughts are with the family during this incredibly difficult time. The safety of our young people is our absolute priority and this incident will be thoroughly investigated, and we are providing supports to both the family and school community,” DOE spokesman Nathaniel Styer noted.