Nationwide — Keymon Barker, a 15-year-old African American teen from Monroe, Georgia, was attacked only hours after arriving at a mental health facility for treatment. He said another teenager hit him with a wooden chair, knocking him unconscious and leaving him with an injury that required nine stitches above his eye.
Barker had been transferred to Ridgeview Institute Monroe from Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Hughes Spalding. His grandmother, who is his guardian, said she did not know about the transfer until a Ridgeview doctor called her. He had been at the facility for about three hours when the attack happened.
According to 11Alive, he said he was talking with two other boys when they asked whether he was affiliated with a gang. After he denied any connection to gangs, he walked away. Another teenager later warned him to watch his back. Barker said he sat down with his back turned and was suddenly hit.
The teenager said he lost consciousness after being struck. When he woke up, he was on a stretcher with a deep injury above his eye. Doctors treated the wound with nine stitches, but Barker said he continued to feel a throbbing pain around his eye. He had entered the facility seeking help with anger and self-control.
Barker also raised concerns about the staff’s response and supervision. He said three employees were nearby before the attack, but one walked away while the others talked, laughed, and used their phones. After his family learned about the injury, they went to Ridgeview seeking answers. A staff member told them the facility’s risk management team had responded and that security footage could be reviewed. The employee also acknowledged the seriousness of what happened, saying, “When things like this happen, we fail as a whole. Everybody failed because this kid is now leaving this facility worse than he came in. That’s a problem.”
The family said staff told them police responded to the incident, filed a report and took the other teenager to jail. Police records were still being sought at the time of the report. Ridgeview had not responded to questions about staffing, supervision, or the events leading up to the attack. Barker said the facility needs better supervision and more staff, while his family plans to file a complaint with the state.