Ga. family says son’s case highlights systemic issue for autistic students

ATLANTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - A Fayette County judge is set to decide what happens next for a special needs student who was found guilty of harassing a former teacher, while his family argues the case is part of a broader pattern of criminalizing autistic children at school.

The case centers on A.J. Mitchell, who was 13 and in eighth grade at the time in the Fayette County School District. In January 2025, the child’s former teacher, Jaymie Konvicka, called law enforcement on the child after he repeatedly called her phone and hung up. The juvenile allegedly sent sexually explicit text messages to Konvicka days before.

A.J. was originally charged with sexual impropriety and harassing a different teacher involving the same incident, but those charges were dismissed.

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A.J. lives with autism and other learning disabilities. He sometimes struggles with social boundaries. The teacher who called 911 knew that as his former teacher, according to his family and statements she made to law enforcement.

When a sheriff’s deputy responded to Konvicka’s home, the body camera video shows the deputy asking the teacher about filing criminal charges. “Especially a juvenile with autism... Do want to try to press charges here, or do you just want documentation?” asked the deputy. Konvicka did file criminal charges, and the district moved forward to expel A.J. from school.

Records show Fayette County school officials waited more than three weeks to let A.J.’s parents know what happened after the initial incident.

Nicole Hull, the family’s attorney, said A.J.’s parents were denied the opportunity to intervene before law enforcement got involved. “I’ve never seen the level of intentionality to remove a child from the district,” Hull said.

A few months later, A.J.’s family and friends packed a Fayette County School Board meeting, pleading for the district to change course. “This situation has devastated our family,” Latrice Mitchell, A.J.’s aunt, told the board. “Instead of preparing for his future, A.J. is now being forced to defend himself in a court battle initiated by the school district.”

The Fayette County School District declined interview requests. Konvicka did not respond to requests for comment.

According to the National Council on Disability, students with disabilities are far more likely to be disciplined, suspended, and funneled into the criminal justice system. In 2015, 85 percent of children in juvenile detention had disabilities.

According to a 2023 report by the Prison Policy Initiative, Georgia incarcerates 968 out of every 100,000 people. That’s not only the highest rate in the U.S., but also more than any free democratic nation on earth, which Hull called a “school to prison pipeline, graduating directly into our adult criminal justice system.”

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Oyin Mitchell does not excuse her son’s behavior, but believes the district failed to consider his disability before removing him from school.

“The worst-case scenario was him telling his therapist he wanted to unalive. He said he wanted to kill himself,” Oyin Mitchell said.

A Fayette County judge is expected to decide on May 6, 2026, whether to expunge A.J.’s school disciplinary record. A few weeks later, A.J. is scheduled to return to court to hear the punishment he’ll receive after pleading guilty to the harassment charge.

Instead of probation or something more punitive, his attorney plans to ask the judge for the student to perform community service and write an essay.