Members of the Houston community are preparing to gather for a prayer vigil in honor of Landon Payton, a 14-year-old student at Marshall Middle School within the Houston ISD who tragically passed away following a medical emergency in a physical education class. The vigil, set to take place at the school on Noble Street at 6:30 p.m. today, invites the public to come together in remembrance of the young student's life. According to FOX 26 Houston, the medical emergency occurred last Wednesday during a period of "free play," with Houston ISD stating that the temperature in the gym was 72 degrees shortly after the incident.
The father of the student, Alexis Payton, expressed his discontent and pain, "I don't want that. I want what was coming from what caused this from the beginning, not the end. I was there at the end. I saw my son die. I was at the end. I need to be in the front. Man. You just don't know. You just don't know I want. All I want is closure. They don't want to give to give me closure," he told FOX 26 Houston in his quest to understand the chain of events leading up to his son's death. Landon Payton's cause of death remains unknown as medical officials have not provided the district with a definitive answer.
The Houston Federation of Teachers President Jackie Anderson responded to the tragedy with concerns about HISD's leadership and lack of resources for school nurses. "It just speaks to the incompetent leadership that we have in HISD," Anderson said in a statement obtained by KHOU 11 News. She also addressed speculation around the nurse's alleged lack of readiness to handle such emergencies, stating, "I just don't believe she said that. He may have heard that, but I personally, in my heart, I don't believe she said that."
Alexis Payton also revealed he had heard during a heartbreaking meeting with HISD officials that the school nurse claimed not to know CPR. "It's a nurse that y'all have at school that didn't know how to do CPR. Did not know how to do CPR, did not know how to use the defibrillator," Payton told KHOU 11 News. Meanwhile, a small memorial has emerged outside of Marshall Middle School as the student's death has deeply affected the school community. HISD Superintendent Mike Miles has made a statement on the matter but has notably refused to take questions, stating, "We’ve been focused this week on gathering information for the family and have prioritized that above all else."
