EL PASO, TEXAS (KFOX14/CBS4) — A former special education teacher in the El Paso Independent School District has been indicted on 16 felony counts tied to alleged abuse of students with special needs.
Rachael Lucas, who was a teacher at Charles Murphree School, was arrested last July on charges of bodily injury to a child after she was accused of hitting multiple students with a broom, a chair, and a cellphone, among other allegations of abuse.
According to the indictment obtained by KFOX14/CBS4 on Wednesday, Lucas was indicted in April on 16 counts of injury to a child with the intent of causing bodily injury.
An arrest report obtained by KFOX14/CBS4 last year said in May 2025 Lucas was caught on camera injuring six different non-verbal special needs students.
According to court documents, Lucas is accused of hitting multiple students with objects, including her cellphone, a dustpan, and several toys.
In one instance, she allegedly struck a child on the rear of his head with a broom. She’s also caught on tape kicking the chair of one student, shoving several students, and verbally accosting many others.
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In addition to Lucas’ arrest, paraprofessional David Gonzales was also arrested last year in connection to the incident.
According to court records, Gonzales is accused of striking a student with an open hand and faces a charge of bodily injury to a child.
Following the arrest of both Lucas and Gonzales, a lawsuit was filed on Sept. 30 by a family who claims their special needs son, who was three years old at the time, was part of a group of kids who endured physical abuse by Rachel Lucas and David Gonzales.
The lawsuit alleges that EPISD failed to screen Lucas and Gonzales before placing them in a classroom with nonverbal special needs students. It goes on to say their employment histories, which showed alleged red flags, were ignored.
The lawsuit said parents brought concerns to the principal and district officials about the teachers before the May 2025 incident. This included reported unexplained injuries and behavioral changes in students, the lawsuit stated.
The family is seeking monetary damages of over $1 million or monetary relief determined by a jury, recovery of costs of medical and psychological care for the child saying he suffered physical injuries, mental anguish and impairment of education opportunities, and loss of his constitutional and statutory rights.
Meanwhile, the case against Lucas continues in court as she faces trial.
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