Ex-Tyler ISD substitute accused of abusing special needs student at Moore Middle School

Published 10:08 pm Tuesday, April 15, 2025

A now-former Tyler ISD substitute teacher arrested last week is accused of shoving a disabled student, throwing them on the floor and restraining them multiple times at Moore Middle School.

Joacim Castro-Lacayo, 28, was arrested April 9 on a first-degree felony charge of injury to a child or disabled person. He was booked into the Smith County Jail, where he remains as of Monday afternoon on a $500,000 bond.

The investigation began earlier this month on April 4 when Tyler ISD’s police department learned of abuse recorded April 1 on a security camera in one of Moore’s special needs classrooms, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.

Castro-Lacayo, previously working as a long-term substitute but who is now no longer employed within the school district, can be seen and heard on the video engaging in a verbal altercation that “became physical,” police stated.

Castro-Lacayo was watching videos on his phone before a back-and-forth began with him and a special needs student, to whom he asked “What are you supposed to be doing?” as the student stood at a window near his desk.

Police say video footage showed Castro-Lacayo become frustrated and lose patience after the student did not comply with his repeated instructions to “stop” and “sit down” as the student stood and tapped on the window, according to the affidavit. The student was restrained, shoved, thrown to the ground and cried in pain for several minutes, police said.

Over the course of 10 minutes, multiple struggles resulted in Castro-Lacayo shoving, restraining and throwing the student onto the ground, landing on top of the student, according to an affidavit.

Castro-Lacayo can be heard in the video groaning out of anger as he then crossed the student’s arms, restraining the student and placing his body weight on them, police said. The student can be seen kicking their legs after this. As one of the aides came over to assist, Castro-Lacayo stood up while still restraining the student by their wrists. The student cried and kicked Castro-Lacayo in the stomach, which led to another struggle as the he tried to further gain control of the student, still restraining them by their wrists.

The aide restrained the student’s legs by holding the student’s ankles, police said.

Castro-Lacayo then said to the student, “I told you to stop. Today is not the day,” according to footage reviewed by police. “Tell this to your mama, to your daddy, to whoever you want.” The student continued to cry as Castro-Lacayo put more of his body weight on the child, who was still restrained. Castro-Lacayo raised his voice and said “You need to stop,” shoving the student’s arms and yelling “Do you understand?” according to the affidavit.

The student can be heard whining and seen jerking their arms in an attempt to get loose of Castro-Lacayo, which only made him place more of his weight on them, police said.

The student spit in Castro-Lacayo’s face multiple times, asked him to get off of them, resisted and said “don’t touch me.” The student then kicked one of the classroom aides, who can be seen restraining the student by their ankles.

As the struggle continued, the student said “I can’t breathe,” to which Castro-Lacayo replied: “If you’re talking, you can breathe.” All three adults in the room then stood over the student, as the student tried to sit up. The substitute and aides then rolled the student over on their stomach, as Castro-Lacayo maintained control of the student’s hands and the other two aides helped restrain the student.

The student screamed for help and told the adults to get off of them, to which the staff refused. The student continued to be restrained for several minutes and was sobbing “uncontrollably,” police said.

As the student cried, Castro-Lacayo told them: “That’s for spitting on me,” police said. At one point, he twisted the student’s arms to which the student immediately screamed out in pain, the affidavit states.

When the student spit on Castro-Lacayo again, he shoved them on the floor and said he did not care the student couldn’t breathe, police said.

“I could hear (the student’s) breathing becoming labored,” an investigator stated upon reviewing this section of the video footage.

One of the aides slid a chair on top of the child’s legs in an attempt to further restrain them. The student was ultimately able to stand up and was no longer being held down. As the student walked toward the classroom door, Castro-Lacayo shoved the student into the wall.

The student “did not provoke this from” Castro-Lacayo, police said. The student then tried to kick him, which led to him restraining the student once again.

At this point, one of the aides called the student’s guardian.

Every time the student got loose, they would ultimately be restrained again, shoved multiple times and pinned down on the floor, police said. One of the alleged abuse incidents reminded the investigator of “a football tackle,” the affidavit states.

As the student and staff argued as to whether the student had been touched, Castro-Lacayo told the student “If I would have touched you, both eyes would be red and purple. Trust me, I wanted to do it,” the affidavit states.

Castro-Lacayo can then be seen punching his desk, telling the student: “That’s how I would have hit you in your eyes. … Don’t be lying on my name either.” Punching the desk again repeatedly, Castro-Lacayo said “’Cause if I would have to hit you, I would be in jail.”

Castro-Lacayo told police this was all out of character for him but didn’t deny any of the accusations when questioned, telling the investigator “I was upset.”

Tyler ISD confirmed Monday that all three people, including Castro-Lacayo, mentioned in this story are no longer employed at the district. The two aides have not been arrested, according to jail records.

“We are aware that a former substitute teacher has been arrested following an investigation into allegations related to the mistreatment of a student with disabilities,” Tyler ISD said in a statement. “The former part-time employee had been trained in restraint protocols specific to special education settings and had been appropriately vetted for employment as are all personnel hired to work in school settings.

“The behavior described in these allegations is appalling and runs counter to everything we stand for as a school district. As soon as the allegations were brought forward, we immediately initiated an internal review, contacted Child Protective Services, and ensured full coordination with law enforcement and are committed to ensuring justice is served.

“Let us be clear: anyone who violates the safety and dignity of our students—especially our most vulnerable learners—will be held fully accountable. We will not tolerate actions that betray the trust placed upon our schools.

“It is an important reminder for our staff and acknowledgement to our community to understand that the use of video cameras in special education classrooms is not mandated by state law, but it is permissible. The Superintendent of Schools, with the full authority of the Board-approved budget, along with State of Texas safety and security grant funding, implemented the district-wide deployment of classroom monitoring cameras in designated special education classrooms as an additional safeguard—because protecting our most vulnerable students is not just a legal obligation, but a moral one.”

Ultimately the district said that while “privacy laws limit what we can share, we remain committed to transparency, to the integrity of the investigative process, and—most importantly—to the well-being of every child in our care. We will continue to work relentlessly to ensure our campuses are places where all students are safe, respected, and protected.”

This is the fourth arrest in a month of a now-former Tyler ISD employee accused of abusing special needs students.

Arrested in late March, Krystina Rena Haas, 35, Prisicilla Gutierrez, 22, and June Renee Tryon, 57, were charged with injury to a disabled person. The ex-Tyler High School employees are accused of abusing a special needs student, including by taping the student’s hands, according to arrest affidavits. They no longer work for the district.