John Jefferson
Inset: Kiera Smith (Oklahoma County Jail). Background: John Marshall Enterprise Middle School (Google Maps).
An Oklahoma educator was arrested this week after a bit of horseplay left one of her students with a broken bone, Sooner State police say.
Kiera Smith, 41, stands accused of one count of aggravated assault and battery, according to the Oklahoma City Police Department.
The teacher has been in trouble with the law – for a school-related incident – one other time before.
The incident occurred on Nov. 21, at John Marshall Enterprise Middle School, according to the affidavit for an arrest warrant in the case.
On the day in question, the school’s resource officer – a police officer in charge of safety at the school – was told about “an altercation between a student and a teacher causing injury to the student.” That injury was allegedly caused by “play fighting” during a “5th hour” science class, according to the court document.
During this alleged incident, “teachers and students were wrestling and playing around,” the school resource officer told law enforcement.
Then, police say, the same thing more or less happened again.
“A second altercation occurred involving the same teacher and other students in 7th hour,” the affidavit goes on – and noting that the second alleged incident occurred during a social studies class.
A detective with the police department followed up. The investigator was provided “numerous written statements from students in the classrooms who witnessed the incidents” by the school’s principal, who identified Smith as the teacher involved, according to the court document.
“The Principal confirmed there was video footage of the incidents taken by Students in the classroom,” Oklahoma City Police Detective Christian Hoehner wrote. “I interviewed the Principal and obtained a statement from her and what she learned about these incidents.”
The initial incident allegedly started with two 13-year-old students “play fighting” with one another, according to the affidavit.
“[T]hey began to horse play in the classroom which caused other students to get involved,” the court document reads. “Most of the students thought this was funny and some videoed.”
The detective then obtained some of those videos, the affidavit says.
“I reviewed video footage from students who took videos and it confirms the stories,” Hoehner wrote. “I read over numerous written statements from students in 5th hour and 7th hour. Multiple students detail defendant Kiera Smith ‘body slamming’ [redacted] Other students detail defendant Kiera Smith throwing [redacted] to the ground of pushing him down.”
In those videos, the defendant is allegedly seen “wrestling with students and placing one student in a hold taking him to the ground while another student jumped on her back,” according to the detective. This then allegedly “turned into a small dog pile of students and defendant.”
As the first incident drew down, someone other than Smith is said to have “pulled students off” and then everyone went to lunch.
During the second incident, however, things took a more serious turn.
Police say a student then “informed” the teacher that “their play fight was not over,” according to the affidavit. So, Smith allegedly picked up the gauntlet and the two “began to play fight while the rest of the class sat against the wall watching.”
The affidavit recalls the injury-causing moments, at length:
[Redacted] was knocked to the ground by defendant Kiera Smith and Victim got up. Victim came towards defendant Kiera Smith and tapped her on the arm. Defendant Kiera Smith turned and grabbed Victim lifting him off the ground and slammed him to the ground. This caused Victim to break his collar bone. Victim was on the ground in pain asking for help. Students began to video at this time. The videos depict Victim on the ground defenseless and in pain. Defendant Kiera Smith comes over to Victim and stands over the top of him and raises both her arms up and looks down at him and says loudly, “anything else!”
“Smith walks away and goes to her desk,” the court document continues. “Smith does not offer to help Victim, nor does she check on him or administer first aid.”
Some 15 minutes later, the child’s mother – who also works at the school – found out what happened to her son. Then, she went to Smith’s classroom to get help for the wounded child.
As the boy’s mother arrived, he was “still on the ground in agony and crying,” police allege. Meanwhile, Smith was “sitting at her desk.”
In the end, the victim sustained a broken collarbone, police say.
When confronted about the incident, the defendant allegedly blamed the student who got injured for approaching her – and offered a narrative that did not align with the video footage.
Again the affidavit, at length:
She seemed very put off about the situation and downplayed the altercation. Defendant Kiera Smith explained she often “play fights” the students at school. I began to ask her about the altercation, and she stated, “we, we really don’t play around with Victim. He just took it upon himself to join in.” Defendant Kiera Smith said she was play fighting and saw Victim coming up from behind so she ducked. Defendant Kiera Smith said this caused Victim to “roll over my shoulder or whatever, and he fell on his arm.” At this point I asked defendant Kiera Smith what happened after he was injured, and this was captured on cell phone video. Defendant Kiera Smith said she checked on the victim and “he moved his arm, moved his fingers, and then he started doing his work.” This was not reflected in the cell phone videos. The cell phone videos also show come up and kick Victim while he is on the ground. Defendant Kiera Smith does not mention this and says goes and sits down after Victim is on the ground. Defendant Kiera Smith said Victim does not partake in the horse play often and he just inserts himself.
“Smith did not understand why this was a criminal matter,” the court document goes on.
The teacher was arrested on Nov. 26.
Several documents were filed in the case that same day, according to the online case docket in the Oklahoma County court system.
There are not currently any court dates scheduled in Smith’s case.
The affidavit notes that Smith was previously arrested for sexual battery in April 2018. She later pleaded no contest to a charge of misdemeanor assault and battery on a teacher.
That earlier arrest allegedly involved a fellow teacher at Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School, according to nonprofit Oklahoma-based news website NonDoc.
An arrest warrant affidavit from that prior run-in with law enforcement cites the victimized teacher. That teacher said she felt Smith’s hand “go between her legs from behind then touching the area between her vagina and rectum. This was on top of her clothing.”
“The victim asked Defendant Smith why she just did that,” Oklahoma City Police Detective Valari Homan wrote. “The defendant said, ‘I was gonna see what your response was going to be and it should have been this.’ [Smith] put her hands up as if she was going to hit or slap someone.”
Law&Crime reached out to the middle school for comment on this story but no response was immediately forthcoming at the time of publication.
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