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Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Police repudiate 13-year-old’s story about Prairie fight
Peyten Sexton's jaw broke when he slipped and struck a urinal during a fight at Prairie Point Middle School, police say, not when he was punched by another student.
Cedar Rapids police have charged Sexton and Albert Parks III, both 13 years old, with disorderly conduct for their roles in the fight that sent Sexton to the hospital overnight with a broken jaw and cheekbone.
Sexton's initial story was one of getting ambushed in the bathroom at the gleaming middle school across Kirkwood Boulevard from the rest of the College Community schools. He said he didn't throw any punches and lost consciousness.
Police tell a different story. They say yes, Parks punched Sexton, but most of the damage to Sexton's face happened when his head hit the urinal. The boys agreed to the fight.
“An assault had not taken place but instead, a pre-determined fight,” Sgt. Cristy Hamblin.
Also, Sexton left the bathroom on his own and initially told staff he had fallen.
Original reporting
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