Superintendent: 4 Mass. boys charged in immigrant beating can’t return to school

Boys charged in beating can’t return to school

LYNN, Mass. — A ruling says four boys accused of severely beating a Guatemalan immigrant will remain indefinitely suspended from school, but they’ll receive tutoring.

Lynn Superintendent Catherine Latham said in the ruling Wednesday that the boys will be part of a program for ill or injured students. The boys won’t be tutored at a school building.

Six boys, ages 11 to 14, were charged with beating 30-year-old Damian Merida in July with bricks and rocks as he slept near railroad tracks. Police say Merida was targeted because of his ethnicity. He’s in rehabilitation for a head injury.

The boys pleaded not delinquent to juvenile charges, including armed assault to murder. The 14-year-old is in state juvenile custody and another was slated to attend private school.