Christopher Mata is pictured with with his aunt Yvette Morales in this family photo

A 19-year-old and a 16-year-old have been arrested and charged with aggravated assault in the beating of a Del Valle High School sophomore.

Police believe the assault was gang-related, and the preliminary investigation indicates that the victim, Christopher Mata, willingly participated in the attack. Police said they believe he was being "jumped out" of one gang so that he could join another.

Police said Mata agreed to meet 19-year-old Jorge Flores and a 16-year-old male gang member at the school to be "jumped out," which is similar to the process of "jumping in" to become a gang member when one is assaulted by other gang members.

"The investigators received information Flores and the 16-year old juvenile viciously assaulted the victim and left him bloodied and laying on the floor," police spokesman Officer Chris Mears said. "Although it appears the victim willingly participated in the event, it is still illegal to assault someone and both subjects have been charged with aggravated assault."

Flores was jailed on a $25,000 bond. The juvenile was referred to the Juvenile Probation Department.

Mata remains hospitalized at Thomason Hospital in serious condition. His mother has said that he is not involved with gangs.

Source The Mexican Times

When first reported:

Del Valle High School sophomore Christopher Mata was sitting in Spanish class Wednesday, his last class of the day, when he asked his teacher for a hall pass.

His request was granted, so he left the class. He never returned.

Before that class ended, a janitor had found Mata unconscious in a stairwell of the Lower Valley campus at 950 Bordeaux.

El Paso police say Mata was assaulted at the school. He was found bleeding and with head injuries.

Mata was rushed by ambulance to Thomason Hospital, where he remained in the

intensive-care unit Thursday.

His mother, Monica Aguirre, said doctors have told her Mata suffered a serious blow to his head, which fractured his skull and caused internal bleeding. Upon arriving at the hospital he was placed on a ventilator in a drug-induced coma.

Aguirre said doctors told her that they didn’t think he’s suffered any brain damage, but that only time and more tests will show for sure. Meanwhile, all she can do is wait and see how his body responds to medical treatment.

Aguirre can’t believe her son is in ICU, she said. Even more disturbing is that he was assaulted and seriously injured while classes were in session at Del Valle, a place that is supposed to be a haven.

"He was unconscious on the stairwell for about an hour before a janitor found him," Aguirre said.

Thursday night, family members said they were told by El Paso police detectives that two "teens from school" had been arrested in connection with the case.

"The detective told us that the sister of the main suspect had confirmed to police that he had come home with a bloody shirt," said Mata’s aunt, Yvette Morales.

Morales also said they believed four people, possibly more and and possibly a girl, were involved in the assault.

"There’s a lot of information going around that we’re hearing from students coming to visit my nephew," Morales said.

El Paso police said an investigation continued.

"As far as we know, the last time he (Mata) was seen safe and secure was about 3:10 p.m," said Darrel Petry, police spokesman.

Petry said an El Paso police officer assigned to Del Valle as a school resource officer was informed during school hours that an injured student was in a stairwell. The officer reported that a 16-year-old boy was bleeding and had head injuries "he suffered during an altercation," Petry said.

Berenice Zubia, Ysleta Independent School District spokeswoman, said school officials think Mata was assaulted during the last period of the school day, which runs from 2:25 to 3:55 p.m.

While the police report on the assault says that Mata got his hall pass around 3:10 p.m., school officials say the student received the pass around 3:20 p.m. He was found unconscious by a custodian around 3:40 p.m, Zubia said.

"This is a very unfortunate situation," Zubia said, "and we are working very closely with the authorities to find out what happened."

As a result of the assault, security has been increased at the campus.

The school regularly has a school resource officer - a police officer assigned to the campus - and three security guards. Officials said more security guards were sent to the campus Thursday, but they would not disclose how many more guards were added because of security concerns. More counselors were also added to help students who may be having trouble coping with the situation.

Zubia said investigators were at the campus Thursday talking to people who know Mata and to try to find anyone who may have information about the assault.

School district officials said between August and September, six assaults were reported at Del Valle. Statistics for October and November were not available.

Zubia said it’s not uncommon for high schools to report assaults because students get into fistfights from time to time. When fights occur, they tend to be broken up quickly.

She also said that not all assaults involve fistfights. Allegations of students pushing each other can also be classified as assaults, she said.

"But this is not common. It was an extremely violent situation," Zubia said about the assault that took place Wednesday at Del Valle.

Mata is the eldest of Aguirre’s four children. He is in his third year of high school but is listed as a sophomore at Del Valle.

Aguirre said she couldn’t believe it when school officials called her Wednesday to tell her that her son was going to be rushed to a hospital.

"They said, ‘Ms. Aguirre we have a child here found in a stairwell. He was unconscious. We believe it’s Christopher Mata. We don’t know how long he’d been there. The ambulance is coming here and taking him to the hospital. He’s in bad condition. He’s really bad,’ " Aguirre recalled.

Aguirre said that during the telephone call, she felt many emotions. She was concerned for her son’s well-being, scared, confused and angry. The anger, she said, was over school officials’ failure to keep her son safe while he was in their care.

By the time she arrived at Thomason, she said, she was desperate for answers.

"I was really mad because my son is in ICU and I wanted to know who hit him, who did this to him, and nobody knew anything," Aguirre said. "It happened at the school which has many security guards. Where were they when this happened to my son? Aren’t they doing routine checks?"

Aguirre said she was told her son was assaulted while a taking a break from a class.

"He had a hall pass to get out of class. I believe he was going to the restroom, and while he was out at that moment is when he was attacked and left in a stairwell. We still don’t know who attacked him," she said.

Aguirre said Del Valle administrators told her they suspect the attack was gang-related.

"They accused my son of being a gang member," she said, "while we are arguing to them that he is not a gang member."

Aguirre said school officials then told her that regardless of whether he was affiliated with a gang, they would help her.

She said school officials probably believed the attack was gang-related because last year her son would talk to students who were linked to gangs. She said he no longer associated with those people.

Aguirre said her three other children, who range in age from 9 to 12, were now scared to go to school, so she would keep them home from school today.

"Schools are supposed to be safe and fun and provide a good learning experience and that is not happening," Aguirre said. "As parents we are responsible for our children’s safety when they are with us.

"When our children are at school, the school is responsible for their safety," she said. "They are supposed to protect them."

Monica Aguirre and her son Christopher Mata in the intensive-care unit at Thomason Hospital

Source The Mexican Times

We bet our paychecks that the Mexicans involved including Mata and his family are illegally in the US and… 

 We guarantee you Mata’s mother can’t/won’t pay the Mexican gang banger’s hospital bill. Why should she when she knows she doesn’t have to and that US tax payers will end up paying for her POS son.