Boy, 10, charged after classmate hit in face with ball

Canton Township — A 10-year-old has been charged with aggravated assault after hitting a 9-year-old classmate in the face with a rubber ball similar to a dodge ball, the county prosecutor said.

The Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office said pupils at a Canton Township school were playing “tips” April 29 in which participants jump to catch a ball that’s tossed upward.

Prosecutors say the game ended and an older boy threw the ball “with force,” causing his classmate to suffer a concussion and abrasions.

The older boy’s mother said in a written statement the only thing her son is guilty of “is being a black boy.” The injured boy’s race wasn’t available.

The prosecutor’s spokeswoman, Maria Miller, said the charges are not based on race. A Thursday appearance in Juvenile Court is scheduled.

The accused youth’s mother, Cameishi Lindley, has started a fundraiser through Facebook to pay for her son's legal expenses. The effort raised more than $15,000 by Tuesday night.

In a post for the fundraiser, Lindley said a school official told her the 9-year-old had a pre-existing medical condition that affected his brain, and she believed "this student should not have been playing a physical-contact sport."

Lindley said her son had been suspended as a result of the incident.