Wake elementary school teacher charged with assaulting special education student

A second Wake County elementary school employee has been arrested in the past two months on charges of assaulting a student with disabilities.

Court records show the Wake County Sheriff’s Office charged Lori Miller Holland, 54, on Friday with one count of misdemeanor child abuse and one count of misdemeanor assault on an individual with a disability.

Holland is a special programs teacher at Carver Elementary School in Wendell. She is accused of assaulting one of the special-education students at the school.

According to the arrest warrant, Holland did “create and allow a substantial risk of physical injury” and “unlawfully and willfully did assault and strike” a student with a disability by “dragging” the child “down the hallway at the school.” The warrant says the incident happened on Jan. 30.

Holland posted a $1,000 bond and was released from the Wake County Detention Center. She has a March 18 court date.

Second special-ed arrest since December

“I want to assure you that we take the safety of our students and staff members very seriously,” Wenitra Merritt, the principal of Carver, said in a message sent to families. “While privacy laws prevent me from providing much additional information about the situation, I can share that Ms. Holland is suspended.”

Holland has worked for the Wake County school system since 2012. The district says she is suspended with pay.

In December, an instructional assistant at East Garner Elementary School was charged with one count each of misdemeanor assault on a child under 12, misdemeanor assault on an individual with disabilities and misdemeanor child abuse.

Tiffany Krystine Ebron, 29, is accused of dragging a 9-year-old East Garner student by the feet across the floor after having lifted him by the feet, which caused his head to hit the floor. Ebron has a Feb. 22 court hearing.

Ebron remains suspended with pay, according to the school system.

Abuse of other children with disabilities

Multiple other children with disabilities have been abused in Wake County within the past two months.

On Dec. 20, police found 9-year-old Vinil Tiwari starved to death in his Morrisville home. Both his parents, Shashikant and Priyanka Tiwari have been charged in connection to this death.

Vinil previously attended school but transferred to online learning due to a developmental delay, according to court documents obtained by The News & Observer.

Nine days later, Joselin Perez Hernandez a 6-year-old girl with Down syndrome from Cary died of injuries Dec. 29 after being hit by a car on Walnut Street. The driver allegedly used derogatory language when describing Hernandez after the crash.

Two days later, on Dec. 31, Karter Holloway, a 5-year-old boy with autism was allegedly beaten to death by his father, Amir Devon Hines.

Both Vinil and Karter were former students at Wake County Public Schools.

To report child abuse or neglect

Call: 919-212-7990 (English) or 919-212-7963 (Espanol)

Business Hours: Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

After regular business hours, weekends and on holidays, call 911 and say you want to make a CPS report. The 911 operator will contact an after-hours social worker who will return your call.