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SLPS teacher in police custody after I-Team report

While the teacher is in police custody, a spokesperson for SLMPD said he is being questioned. He has not been arrested.
Credit: Clancy, Samuel

ST. LOUIS – St. Louis Police took a teacher from Herzog Elementary School into custody Tuesday, less than 24 hours after a mother told 5 On Your Side’s I-Team the teacher slammed her son's head into a desk. In fact, she said he did it twice.

The teacher has not been arrested or charged at this point. A spokesperson for St. Louis Metropolitan Police said he is being held for questioning.

J’Ameshia Triplett said doctors told her that her son's front four permanent teeth may never grow in because of the incident. The doctors diagnosed the 5-year-old boy with a concussion.

And the boy's mother said it was his teacher that did it.

One day after Triplett showed us these photos, she felt some relief.

“I feel like my story is now going to be heard and not pushed away,” Triplett said.

That's because St. Louis Metropolitan Police took the teacher Triplett said caused these injuries into custody.

It all started when Triplett got a call, not from the nurse or the principal, but from the teacher himself. Triplett said that teacher told her the following:

“He was trying to get Kaiden to listen to him and get in his seat. He said ‘Kaiden fell and kind of scraped his lip with his tooth,’” she said.

But with a bloody mouth and a knocked out tooth, Triplett said her 5-year-old son told school leaders a different story, one that blamed his teacher for his injuries.

“He hit his head on his desk two times,” Triplett said.

The family’s cousin, Dream Evans, has been helping the mother and boy since the incident.

She said the impact on the boy has been more than physical.

“He wonders if he is going to be like this for the rest of his life. It is crazy. A kid like this is terrified and tortured by a person that is supposed to be teaching,” Evans said.

Finally, Triplett said she was disappointed that district and school leaders have not called her at all to inquire about her son's physical and emotional health.

While the teacher is in police custody, a spokesperson for St. Louis police said he is not under arrest, but he is being questioned.

SLPS has placed him on administrative leave per its policy. In addition, 5 On Your Side has been told that Missouri Family Services is also investigating.

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