Transgender teen thought he was ‘going to die’ when other high school students allegedly beat him up at party

GLOUCESTER, Mass. (AP) — A transgender Massachusetts teen is recovering after allegedly being punched, kicked and stomped by fellow high school students at a party.

Jayden Tkaczyk, 16, said he was at an outdoor party in Gloucester on Friday night when a dozen teenagers attacked him and called him homophobic slurs. They chased him into the woods, where he was found by police. He said he was taken to a local hospital and treated for his injuries, which included a broken bone under his right eye and scrapes and bruises on his body.

“I was scared, but I thought that if I managed to escape, things would eventually get better,” Tkaczyk told The Associated Press. “When they were beating me, I felt scary. I thought I was going to die, but I tried to stay positive.”

Tkaczyk’s mother, Jasmine, said she was terrified when she got the call that her son was in the hospital.

“That was my worst fear for Jayden. This has been my biggest fear for him as a mother of a transgender child,” she said of his assault. “Getting that phone call was one of the scariest experiences. Having to go to the hospital to see him in that condition. When I got that call, I was just praying that he was alive.”

The Essex County District Attorney’s Office said it was “aware of the serious allegations” and was working with the Gloucester Police Department on what it called “this active and ongoing investigation involving juvenile parties.”

He made no further comment, including on whether anyone had been arrested.

Tkaczyk, who said she has been afraid to leave her home since the attack, said she hopes the teens are held accountable.

“No one has been arrested, no one has been charged and nothing has happened to the children that could have caused this,” he said. “If people or the city want to make the city better, they should start taking steps to make their community safer.”

Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell said MassEquality, an LGBTQ+ rights and advocacy group, has been in contact with the family and that they and others have reached out to its civil rights division and its children’s justice unit.

Campbell said his office is actively pursuing the complaint.

“What we’ve heard is horrifying, to say the least, but like any investigation, we do it carefully, in collaboration with the community and constituents, and that won’t change here,” he said. “So we’ll do what we can to investigate this quickly and thoroughly.”

Tkaczyk, who attends a vocational school, said he has long been bullied for being transgender, including being forced off the Gloucester High School football team. He said the district has done nothing in the past to address his complaints about harassment, but he hopes that will change now.

“There have been reports of bullying piling up and piling up about kids bullying me not only mentally but physically,” Tkaczyk said. “For over 11 years, I have been bullied… It has been a terrible, hard struggle for me, and I don’t tell anyone how terrible it is.”

Gloucester Public Schools Superintendent Ben Lummis said at a news conference Tuesday that the district takes the allegations seriously. However, the district did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

James Cook, headmaster of Gloucester High School, sent a letter to the school community on Tuesday informing them of the weekend attack and advising children “who are having difficulty accepting the news of this incident” or anyone who “feels unsafe for any reason” to seek out a member of school staff.

“Creating a safe and inclusive environment that supports all of our students, staff, and families is our number one priority,” Cook wrote. “While this is a difficult message to send the night before our first day, I am confident that our staff will come together to welcome all students back to GHS.”

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This story has been updated to correct Jayden, not Jordan, in the fifth paragraph.

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Associated Press writer Steve LeBlanc in Boston contributed to this report.

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