- A 12-year-old reportedly died after getting punched in the head by a fellow classmate, local news reported.
- The student, Romy Vilsaint, told his family that someone punched him in exchange for one dollar.
- New York police and the Department of Education are investigating this incident.
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A 12-year-old child reportedly died after being punched by one of his classmates in exchange for one dollar, according to local reports.
Police said Romy Vilsaint, a fifth-grader, informed his family that he was punched in the head by a fellow student at his school in Brooklyn, New York, PS 361, WABC-TV reported. His family told the outlet that Vilsaint said the student was offered a dollar to punch him.
PS 361 did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
New York Post reported that Vilsaint went to the nurse's office at school after the attack because he had a headache. He left a voicemail for his father in the office, stating that someone "hit me real hard."
Vilsaint became so ill that he started vomiting and was transported to a local hospital, where he later died, the report said. The cause of the child's death is not yet known.
"They beat my son in the school. They kill him," the boy's father, Romain Vilsaint, told the NY Post. "Oh God, I lost my son, I lost my son."
The family told WABC-TV that his mother sent him to New York from Haiti in 2017 "for a better life."
According to the reports, police are investigating the situation. A Department of Education spokesperson told the NY Post the incident "is a horrible tragedy."
"This is a horrible tragedy, and our thoughts are with the family during this incredibly difficult time," the spokesperson said. "The safety of our young people is our absolute priority, and this incident will be thoroughly investigated, and we are providing supports to both the family and school community."