NJ Mom Knocked Out By 13-Year-Old Who Bullied Her Son: Prosecutor

A New Jersey mother was attacked by a 13-year-old – a child who allegedly had been bullying her son – while she was walking home after picking up her own child from school, according to prosecutors.

Beronica Ruiz, 35, told NBC4 New York she had just picked up her 7th-grader son from The Gifted and Talented Academy in Passaic on June 19 and was walking home with him and her 1-year-old daughter when the student approached them.

The 13-year-old verbally abused Ruiz, who told him to stop. He then punched her and knocked unconscious, leaving her face bruised and fractured, according to the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office. The assault occurred at approximately 5 p.m. on June 19 on Lexington Avenue near the intersection with Monroe Street.

The 13-year-old also struck one of her children in the face.

Ruiz was treated at the hospital for facial fractures and a concussion. The 13-year-old was charged with one count each of aggravated assault and simple assault, and he was released to his parents pending an appearance in the Family Court, according to prosecutors.

Ruiz says the trouble actually started inside the school, with students allegedly telling her 12-year-old son to "go back to Mexico" a week before the attack – even though he is a U.S. citizen, according to NBC4

.“This was a horrific and brutal attack,” her attorney, Daniel Santiago of Clifton, told NJ Advance Media. “It takes a certain level of insanity to brutally attack a mother with a stroller and leave her for dead.”

The woman was hospitalized for two days, specifically suffering a fractured eye socket, bruises and a bloodied eye that remained red for days, according to NJ Advance Media.

When the boy had reported the bullying to school officials, they sequestered the teen for the remainder of the day, Santiago told NJ Advance Media. But nobody called the child’s parents, he said.

After the boy’s father, Alfonso Vasquez, contacted Passaic Mayor Hector Lora, the teen was suspended, Santiago told NJ Advance Media.

School officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.

The Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office asks anyone with additional information about the incident to contact the tips line at 1-877-370-PCPO or tips@passaiccountynj.org. Or you can contact the Passaic Police Department Detective Bureau at 973-365-3939.