A Miami Palmetto Senior High School student arrested for throwing an air horn at his baseball teammate appeared before a judge on Thursday.
The 16-year-old, who NBC6 is not identifying because he’s a minor, was arrested on Tuesday on an aggravated battery charge after police say he left his 15-year-old teammate with a large gash on his ear that required six stitches.
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“He is a good kid. Obviously, he is not happy," said Edward J. O'Donnell IV, the attorney who is representing the defendant. "He is extremely remorseful about what he did. He let his teammate know he was terribly sorry immediately after. He sent him a text, saying, look, I am so sorry I did this."
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In court, prosecutors brought in Miami-Dade Police Officer Giovanni Joseph to try and prove their case for a probable cause hearing.
“The victim and him were exchanging words. His intentions after practice was to scare him with the air horn. His testimony was he tried to throw it at his feet,” said Joseph, who interviewed the victim and defendant.
The victim, whose family identified as David Ortiz, is considering transferring out after he believes he lost his team and school.
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“He’s destroyed. He’s very traumatized by all of this to the point where he doesn’t want to return to the school,” said Candida Chesman, the grandmother of the victim.
After hearing arguments and Joseph's testimony, Judge Yery Marrero ruled she hadn’t heard enough evidence for aggravated battery with bodily harm as initially charged. Marrero only found probable cause for felony battery, which is a lesser charge that allows the teen to be released to his parents. If not, the teen would have had to stay at the Juvenile Detention Center. Prosecutors can still try and upgrade his charges.
“Did not intend in any way to harm this person. He intended to throw the object; didn’t think it would have harmed him,” O'Donnell said.
The teen’s next hearing is the following Thursday.
