Three Park High School students are facing felony child abuse charges after Racine police say they got into a fight with another boy after school last month.
Brandon Williams, Darnell King, and Tyrone Collins, all of whom are 18 and from Racine, were charged Tuesday in Racine County Circuit Court with one felony count each of child abuse and one misdemeanor charge each of disorderly conduct. If convicted, they could each face up to 6 years, three months in prison and/or up to $11,000 in fines.
A fourth defendant – Markeith Wilson, 17, of Racine – was charged with a single count of misdemeanor disorderly conduct. If convicted, he faces up to 90 days in jail and/or up to $1,000 in fines.
According to the criminal complaint, police were called May 26 to Park High School about a fight that had taken place May 22 off campus on Linden Avenue. Officers watched video of two boys – one of them identified as Wilson – square up to fight and then throw numerous punches at each other.
Police say Williams entered the fight, and hit the boy who tried to cover himself, but Wilson and Williams continued punching him. The crowd closed in and he went down. A relative of Wilson’s pulled him from the fight, but King and Collins jumped in and started punching and stomping the boy who remained down on the ground. The video abruptly ends while King continued to kick the boy.
School surveillance video shows the defendants at school earlier that day wearing the clothing they are seen wearing in the video, the complaint reads. School video also depicts an earlier altercation between Wilson, Williams and the boy.
Officers say when they spoke to Wilson he said the boy had threatened him earlier, including shooting him. He admitted to fighting the boy when they saw each other later that day. Williams denied knowing anything about a fight, but King and Collins admitted they were part of the fight but didn’t realize the boy was only 16 and that they really didn’t know what started the fight. King and Collins also admitted they had plenty of opportunity to leave the area but did not.
Williams, King and Collins all remain in the Racine County Jail on $250 cash and $1,000 signature bonds. They will next be in court June 17 for their preliminary hearings. Wilson was released on a $250 signature bond and will be in court July 2 for a pre-trial conference.
Williams also has an additional misdemeanor charge of disorderly conduct against him for a February incident at school where he was removed from class for not following instructions, the complaint for this charge reads. Once in the hallway, school resource officers say he refused to go to his sub-school office and repeatedly yelled profanities.
He was assigned a $100 cash bond for that charge and will have a pre-trial conference on July 2.