CRIME
Bowie State slaying witness charged thousands
Last September 15th, as a fight among Bowie State roommates escalated into a stabbing and a death, Latanya Johnson was on the phone with her daughter. She was in the room.
Johnson says she panicked. She didn’t know what happened and heard a bunch of screams.
She rushed to the school even as paramedics struggled to save a dying Dominique Frazier. Later police would charge another student, Alexis Simpson, with murder. Johnson says her own daughter has never been the same.
“It was her best friend,” she says. “She saw everything . She saw everything from initial fighting to when it happened.”
After her daughter calmed down and gave police reports, she never went back.
Johnson says her frustration with Bowie State started not long after. Her daughter, who wants to remain anonymous, says there is no way she can go back to the campus, but the school she says won’t pay for psychological counseling unless she is a student.
And then, even though her daughter left school just two weeks into the fall semester, she got this bill from Bowie for $3,048 that is due Wednesday. Johnson calls Bowie administrators heartless.
“I want a zero balance,” she says. “My daughter has gone through enough. It wasn't her fault and it was a tragic incident, but she is a victim as well. They treated us like step children they didn't care.”
Bowie State issued this statement: (The student) elected to withdraw from the university after the incident and that she and her family were advised that they would still incur a financial obligation.
While she was still a student, however, our counseling and student affairs staff met with her to offer comfort and psychological support, particularly because of her close proximity to the incident.
The university was greatly concerned about the well-being of all our students following the tragic event and made very effort to provide support services to help them deal with the emotional distress it caused.
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