Mom: Son was choked unconscious by security guard

An Asbury Park mother claims a school security guard choked her 7-year-old son. The boy, first-grader Ne'Rek Johnson, says the guard at Barack H. Obama School held him around the neck until he passed

News 12 Staff

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May 5, 2015, 3:42 AM

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Updated 3,467 days ago

An Asbury Park mother claims a school security guard choked her 7-year-old son.

The boy, first-grader Ne'Rek Johnson, says the guard at Barack H. Obama School held him around the neck until he passed out.

"My son told me [the guard] was squeezing him so hard, he felt like he had to throw up," says Karen McMillan.

McMillan claims the guard told her that he had to perform CPR on the boy to revive him.

"The security guard is telling me that he was restraining my son for trying to leave the building," she says. "He said my son got stiff on him and fell."

The school told McMillan that her son had a seizure or may have hyperventilated because he was so upset.

The boy was taken to Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune and held overnight for observation.

McMillan admits her son often gets in trouble at school for throwing tantrums. This time, Ne'Rek was kicking and throwing chairs after his teacher took away his recess.

The mother says she received a call from another parent whose child witnessed the incident and said Ne'Rek told the guard he could not breathe several times.

Calls for comment made to the Asbury Park School District by News 12 New Jersey were not returned.

Asbury Park police, the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office and the state child protection agency are all looking into the incident.