Boy, 13, Dies After Fistfight at School

A fistfight between students at Juniper Intermediate School turned deadly Friday when one of the children, a 13-year-old Palmdale boy, collapsed and later died at a hospital, authorities said.

The fight broke out after school in a campus quad as students headed to the buses waiting to take them home, said Palmdale School District Supt. Nancy Smith. Two eighth-grade boys got into an argument, cursing and trading punches. Sgt. Norine Plett of the Sheriff’s Department said that as a teacher’s aide tried to break up the fight, the 13-year-old fell.

“Just as the last couple of punches were thrown, the victim fell to the ground,” Plett said. “Whether he hit his head, we don’t know. He went into some kind of convulsions.”

Witnesses said the victim hit his head when he fell forward onto a sidewalk, according to Smith. She said a teacher and a health aide tried to revive the boy until paramedics arrived.

Char Kramer, a spokeswoman for the county Fire Department, said the school called for help at 2 p.m., saying the boy was in full cardiac arrest. He was taken to Antelope Valley Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Authorities declined to release the boy’s name.

Smith said that as far as she knew, the victim had no medical problems. The boys involved in the fight were not known to be enemies, she said.