RIVER ROUGE, Mich. – A Detroit mother is demanding answers after her 13-year-old son was injured in a school fight — saying she only found out later when a video surfaced online.
Evelyn Dixon says her son, Eymare Files, a student at Sabbath Middle School in River Rouge, got into an argument with a friend last Friday afternoon, January 31, 2025, over a girl. That argument quickly escalated into a physical fight around 1:30 p.m.
When Dixon saw the video later that day, she said she panicked, quickly calling the school’s principal.
“‘Where’s my son? It looks like he’s been involved in a fight. It looks like he’s passed out on the ground,’” she said she asked.
Footage of the incident shows the teen getting knocked to the ground. He said he was “knocked out” for about 15 seconds. Dixon said he was later put on a school bus — without any medical attention and with no phone call to her.
“He couldn’t move. He said nobody helped him up. Nobody came to see if he was OK,” she said. ‘Where’s Eymare now?’ [the principal] said, ‘We put him on the bus.’ I said, ‘After the slam?’ [the principal] said, ‘Yeah, he’s on the bus — he appeared fine.’”
Dixon immediately took her son to Children’s Hospital, where she said doctors confirmed he suffered a mild concussion. She has since filed a police report and plans to take legal action against the school.
The school’s principal told Local 4 that he was present during the incident, brought both students into his office to de-escalate the situation and determine consequences. He added that he called Dixon back as soon as the situation had been handled and they “did what they thought was best.” However, Dixon said that’s not nearly enough.
“You still have to contact the parents in an emergency,” she said. “There’s no beating around the bush about that. You have to contact the parents or have the student call his parents. Just be more mindful — anything could happen.”
The principal confirmed the other student involved has been suspended. Local 4 has reached out to the superintendent for further comment but has not yet received a response.
