Incident at James Madison High School Leaves Teen with Severe Injuries and a Mother Demanding Answers
Brooklyn, NY — A 14-year-old Brooklyn student’s high school football aspirations came to a devastating end when his coach allegedly assaulted him, causing severe head injuries. Now, his distraught mother is taking legal action to find justice.
Shayson Willock was reportedly attacked by coach Nicholas Nugent in a James Madison High School stairwell last September. The assault was so brutal that Shayson lost consciousness and required six staples in his skull, according to a criminal complaint and a civil lawsuit.
“I don’t know who to trust,” Shayson’s mother, Deslyn Willock, told The Post, expressing her frustration with school administrators who she felt downplayed the incident and forced her to report the attack to the NYPD herself.
“I don’t know if I can trust the teachers,” said Deslyn Willock, who filed a $2.5 million lawsuit against Nugent, the city, and the Department of Education on Monday. “I don’t know if I can trust the coaches. I don’t even know if I can trust the justice system. I don’t know who to trust at this point, because I felt like everyone failed me. Everyone failed my son.”
Coach faces multiple charges
Nugent was arrested days after the September 18, 2023, incident, during which he allegedly became enraged when Shayson dozed off during a team video review. The coach faces multiple felony charges, including assault, endangering the welfare of a child, harassment, and menacing.
He is currently out on supervised release, but the Department of Education (DOE) has not disclosed whether he remains employed.
In a brief phone conversation, Nugent said he could not comment on the case. “I’m shocked by the phone call to find out it’s a news thing, but hey, it is what it is. It’s all good,” Nugent remarked. “That’s why we’re going to trial, because I’m all about defending my freedom. I’m all about defending my rights.”
DOE and city’s response
The DOE declined to answer specific questions about Nugent’s employment or the incident, issuing only a brief statement. “The safety of our students is our number one priority,” said DOE spokesperson Jenna Lyle. “We will review the lawsuit.”
The city’s law department also declined to comment due to the pending litigation.
Details of the incident
According to the lawsuit and family claims, Shayson was recovering from a severe case of COVID-19 and struggled to stay awake during the after-school video review. Nugent allegedly became irate, kicked Shayson out of the classroom, and followed him into the hallway, where he reportedly slammed the teen into the wall multiple times and pushed him into a metal pole.
Shayson ran back into the classroom, bleeding profusely from his head, before losing consciousness. “He was trying to tell them that he needed to go to the bathroom so I could wipe off the blood,” Shayson recounted.
Deslyn Willock rushed to the school after receiving a call about her son’s condition. Administrators claimed Shayson had fallen during an argument, but she could hear her son screaming, “He hurt me, he hurt me.”
Legal and health ramifications
Shayson required six staples for his head injury and was diagnosed with a concussion. He has not returned to playing football, and further medical examinations suggest possible brain contusions and spinal damage. “He has a compromised cervical region with multiple herniations,” said Willock’s lawyer, Richard Kenny, “which is wholly abnormal for anyone remotely close to his young age.”
Deslyn Willock has taken leave from work to care for Shayson, who was out of school for a month and continues to suffer from severe pain. Despite the school’s principal, Jodie Cohen, expressing concern for Shayson’s health, Willock feels there was little effort to address the coach’s actions or inform other parents.
Shayson has since transferred to another school and is adapting, but he remains hesitant about returning to sports. “I just didn’t like football anymore,” Shayson said. “I didn’t know if it was gonna happen again.”
A mother’s hope for justice
Deslyn Willock remains hopeful that her son will recover and that they will achieve justice for the trauma inflicted upon him. “When the situation had just happened, he would tell me that he felt like he doesn’t have a life anymore,” she said. “He feels like everything was taken away from him.”