Allegedly bullied transgender teen pleads not guilty to assaulting schoolmates

PHOTOS: The Houston-area schools with the most reported fights Tomball High School student Tra’Vez Perry, who is charged with assault, arrives to Harris County Criminal Court on Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2018, in Houston. >>> See which school districts have reported the most fights less Tomball High School student Tra’Vez Perry, who is charged with assault, arrives to Harris County Criminal Court on Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2018, in Houston. PHOTOS: The Houston-area schools with the most reported fights Tomball High School student Tra’Vez Perry, who is charged with assault, arrives to Harris County Criminal Court on Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2018, in Tomball High School student Tra’Vez Perry, who is charged with assault, arrives to Harris County Criminal Court on Tuesday, Oct. 30, 2018, in ... more Photo: Yi-Chin Lee, Staff Photographer Photo: Yi-Chin Lee, Staff Photographer Image 1 of / 42 Caption Close Allegedly bullied transgender teen pleads not guilty to assaulting schoolmates 1 / 42 Back to Gallery

The transgender teen accused of attacking two Tomball High School classmates last week pleaded not guilty to an assault charge Tuesday during an arraignment hearing.

Tra'Vez Perry, a 17-year-old who also attended Tomball at the time of the charge, has maintained that she was bullied before she allegedly beat two students in the school hallway on Tuesday, October 23, leaving them hospitalized.

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She told police that before the altercation, the female victim posted a photo of her on Snapchat with a negative comment. Perry later told Channel 13 that the student took a photo of Perry while she was walking to the bus with the caption, "I'm questioning mankind."

Perry declined to comment on the case at Tuesday's hearing. But her attorney, Kelly Benavides, said she is scared about "the whole process" moving forward.

"[Perry] has never been through anything like this before," Benavides said, adding that she just started reviewing evidence in the case.

According to the Tomball police report, cellphone video showed Perry grabbing the female student's hair and punching her in the face. Police said the video also shows Perry punching and kicking the male student while he was on the ground.

Both victims told police they couldn't remember everything that happened to them because they lost consciousness. The female victim was taken to a hospital with a bloody nose and redness around her eyes, while the male victim's mother took him to the hospital with blood coming out of the left side of his head, the police report said.

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Perry has been living in CPS custody in the Houston area for about two months, according to her first attorney at a probable cause hearing last week.

In addition to facing a charge of misdemeanor assault, Perry has since been placed in an alternative school, according to Channel 13. In her interview with the station, she said both she and the female victim owed each other an apology.

"I think we both were in the wrong," Perry said.

Perry's next court hearing is scheduled for January 7, Benavides said.

Julian Gill is a digital reporter in Houston. Read him on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | julian.gill@chron.com | Text CHRON to 77453 to receive breaking news alerts by text message