Ex-DPS employee seen hitting nonverbal child, picking him up by ankles ruled temporarily incompetent

DAYTON — A former Dayton Public Schools employee accused of assaulting a special-needs child is temporarily incompetent to stand trial.

Darrick Sorrells, 56, was in court on Tuesday for a competency hearing. It was there that a Montgomery County Common Pleas judge ruled that he was incompetent but restorable, a spokesperson for the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office confirmed to News Center 7.

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The ruling means that Sorrells will be treated by Forensic Evaluation Services to restore his competency. A status report will be due back to the court in six months, the spokesperson said.

As News Center 7 previously reported, Sorrells is facing one count of assault and two counts of endangering children.

The charges stem from an Aug. 21 surveillance video that caught Sorrells, who was an employee at Rosa Parks Early Learning Center at the time, taking care of a 4-year-old boy with special needs.

Sorrells was pulling the child in a wagon when he got out of the wagon and took off running. The video showed Sorrells chasing after the boy and when he caught up to him, Sorrells was seen hitting the child on the head and knocking him down.

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The video then showed Sorrells picking the child up by the ankles and carrying him upside down back down the hallway.

Another employee at the school saw the incident and took the child from Sorrells.

He was placed on administrative leave, but later “resigned in lieu of termination.”

Sorrells was granted a motion to have his competency evaluated in October and then was granted a second opinion in December, according to court documents.

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