Cypress Ranch High School student hospitalized, left nearly blind in one eye, after alleged attack
By Alex Bozarjian
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CYPRESS, Texas (KTRK) — A Cypress teen is facing serious charges after allegedly attacking one of his classmates.
According to authorities, it happened on the morning of Nov. 11 inside a Cypress Ranch High School classroom.
The victim, Anthony Vasquez, said he spent six days in the hospital and nearly lost an eye.
“I was thinking, ‘I could be dying right now.’ Like, ‘I could be dead,'” Vasquez said.
The suspect, identified in court records as Donovan Hernandez, allegedly came up to Vasquez from behind when he was in conversation with a teacher.
Vasquez said he didn’t realize that Hernandez was already inside the classroom.
“Out of nowhere, I feel this big pain in the back of my head and my eye…like the left side of my face,” Vasquez said.
The 17-year-old said that eventually, he was thrown over some desks and fell to the ground.
He claims he was face down and not fighting back at that point.
“He kept punching me, right? So, I am like, ‘I am getting hurt. I am going to try to stop him.’ So, I just grabbed both his wrists and held them tight,” Vasquez said.
Vasquez said administrators and Cy-fair ISD police ultimately intervened.
Hernandez has since been arrested and is facing a charge of assault with bodily injury.
The school district confirmed that the attack occurred but only said it was under investigation.
“Why do you think he did this,” asked ABC13’s Alex Bozarjian.
“Well, we had a couple of problems in the past, but I was always like, ‘Hey, we can talk this out,'” Vasquez said.
According to Vasquez, their problems were over a girl.
The attorney representing Hernandez tells ABC13 his client hit a boiling point after being continuously harassed by Vasquez.
Vasquez claims they haven’t spoken since last year.
“I always thought like, ‘I don’t know what he could do to me,'” Vasquez said. “I felt really paranoid.”
Vasquez underwent surgery on his eye and said he’s been coughing up blood since getting out of the hospital.
His family is hoping this wasn’t all for nothing. They want change, so they started an Instagram page to start a conversation about bullying and violence in schools.
“You don’t want this to happen to anyone, really, and it is not a good feeling at all,” Vasquez said.
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