The family of an autistic teenager who faces expulsion after being found guilty of harassing his teacher has accused a Georgia school of trying to brand him a criminal. AJ Mitchell, 13, was convicted in January of harassing his former teacher, Jaymie Konvicka, after repeatedly making hang-up calls and sending explicit texts in the days before she contacted police, according to Atlanta News First.
On Wednesday, a Fayette County judge will decide whether the teen is expelled or has his record cleared. The family’s attorney, Nicole Hull, stated, 'I've never seen the level of intentionality to remove a child from the district.'
A crowd of family and friends packed a recent school board meeting, pleading with the district to reverse course and accusing officials of failing the teen by ignoring his disability. 'The worse case scenario was him telling his therapist he wanted to unalive. He said he wanted to kill himself,' said Oyin Mitchell, AJ’s mother.
AJ, who has autism and other learning disabilities, sometimes struggles to understand social boundaries. Hull backed the family’s argument, calling the case evidence of a 'school-to-prison pipeline,' where students 'graduate directly into our adult criminal justice system.'
Georgia has an incarceration rate of roughly 968 per 100,000 people, the highest in the United States and higher than any other free democratic nation, according to a 2023 report by the Prison Policy Initiative. Many incarcerated individuals are students with special needs, who are more likely to be disciplined, suspended, and pushed into the justice system. By 2015, an estimated 85 percent of children in juvenile detention had disabilities.
The court battle began earlier this year after Konvicka called authorities over unwanted contact from AJ, though his family says the teacher was aware of his struggles. Body camera footage shows a sheriff’s deputy asking Konvicka if she wanted to press charges. 'Especially a juvenile with autism... Do you want to try to press charges here or do you just want documentation?' the officer asked. Konvicka eventually filed criminal charges, while the district moved to expel AJ.
Records show that Fayette County school officials waited over three weeks to inform AJ’s parents about the incident. Hull insisted they were never given a chance to intervene before police were called. 'My husband and I knew none of this,' AJ’s mother said. 'They had already had the charges filed. Everything was done.'
During the heated board meeting, AJ’s aunt, Latrice Mitchell, declared, 'This situation has devastated our family. Instead of preparing for his future, AJ is now being forced to defend himself in a court battle initiated by the school district.'
AJ’s mother has taken to Facebook with increasingly vocal advocacy, sharing a video describing the day a sheriff knocked on her door and her son asked why police were there. She said officials arrived with documents that included a line underlined in red reading, 'Serve the child.' In another post, she wrote, 'What you saw wasn't a moment—it's been years in the making. Decisions. Silence. Systems that should have protected a child but didn't. Court is next. And no matter what, we keep moving forward. If you've ever wondered what advocacy really costs—this is it.'
AJ was originally charged with sexual impropriety and harassment involving a different teacher in connection with the same incident, but those charges were later dismissed. On Wednesday, a Fayette County judge will decide whether to expunge AJ’s school disciplinary record. After that, the teen is scheduled to return to court to hear his punishment following a guilty plea to the harassment charge. Instead of probation or a tougher punishment, his attorney plans to ask for community service and an essay requirement.
