Charlotte Teen Badly Beaten After School

,

[gtxvideo vid=”Ymc6iCgb” playlist=”” pid=”Bbt3TRDe” thumb=”http://player.gtxcel.com/thumbs/Ymc6iCgb.jpg” vtitle=”teen attacked”]

Β CHARLOTTE, NC —Β A 16 year old, badly beaten by fellow students from East Mecklenburg High School, is still recovering from severe head injuries.

CMPD has arrested eight suspects in the attack. But the victim is left wondering why it happened, and looking for a new school.

Β “I remember during the punching, I keep asking myself ‘Will I ever survive this?'” says Robert Andrade. “‘Or will I ever wake up?'”

Robert Andrade was beaten severely, attacked by a gang of fellow East Mecklenburg students one week ago. The International Baccalaureate student had just walked out of the Independence Regional Library across the street from the school.

“I heard, oh, there was a fight of just only two girls,” says Andrade. “And then it kind of shifted to some other parking lot behind the library. IΒ was just using my phone. Just got a little distracted. Using my phone, texting. And out of nowhere, some guy took my phone and that’s when the whole punching started.”

The police report says Robert was punched and kicked by multiple people. CMPDΒ has charged eight suspects with felony assault. Four are juveniles.

Jerron Morris, Brandon Peterson, Paul Whitt and Tyler Peacock are charged as adults.

“A skull fracture,” says Andrade. “Also a concussion.”

A broken finger too. He is still recovering. The scars are more than just physical.

“The first time I was really scared,” says Andrade. “I had a nightmare about what happened.”

“He listen to a noise, he is scared,” says his mother Nancy. “He says, ‘I thought somebody hit me.'”

Robert was back at school for the first time since the attack today, taking exams in the school office.

I asked if he was comfortable going back to East Meck next year.

“I might not go back to East Mecklenburg,” says Andrade. “Probably not here in the area. In the east side probably.”

Robert is still piecing together the details of what happened to him. He has a message for his attackers.

“What they did to me is just getting me stronger,” says Andrade. “By years, I will be somebody. Somebody more bigger than them.”

I reached out to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools. They tell me they are aware of the incident, and that it took place after school and off campus.