Editor’s Note: This article is part of KSAT Investigates’ special, “Dangerous Lessons,” digging into a problem unfolding in classrooms: students hurting educators.
Two years after a student fatally pushed a Brandeis High School instructional aide, KSAT Investigates is learning more details about what led up to his death. A fight to keep records sealed is preventing his widow from getting answers about what led up her her husband’s death.
Recommended Videos
>>Click here to view our interactive project
“This is a dedication and memory of Mr. Fred, my husband,” said Margo Jimenez as she flipped through a yearbook, stopping on a page paying tribute to her husband, Alfred Jimenez.
“Freddy was my soulmate,” she said. “He did everything and anything for me.”
Alfred Jimenez spent the final 25 years of his life supporting Margo through her son’s death and her cancer battle.
“I miss his hugs, his smile,” Jimenez said. “It just breaks my heart every day to know that I’m not gonna see my husband ever again.”
Jimenez said her faith has guided her through the last two years.
“I miss him so much, Daniela, I do,” she told KSAT Investigates reporter Daniela Ibarra.
The last time Jimenez heard her husband’s voice was in February 2024 before he left to work at Brandeis High School. Alfred Jimenez, known to students and colleagues as Mr. Fred, worked with special education students.
“He loved those kids,” said Margo Jimenez. “He cared a lot about them.”
No charges after Mr. Fred’s death
Mr. Fred, 73, planned to retire that year. Instead of ending his career on his own terms, he left Brandeis High School by ambulance.
At the time, Northside ISD said Mr. Fred was redirecting a student when he got hurt.
“I spent 10 days at the hospital, praying every day for a miracle,” said Margo Jimenez. “And it just didn’t happen.”
Alfred “Mr. Fred” Jimenez died on February 17, 2024.
The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled his death as a homicide. The autopsy report, reviewed by KSAT Investigates, stated Jimenez died because the student pushed him, which caused a deadly head injury.
“He didn’t get to live to tell his story,” said Margo Jimenez. “So I’m trying to do that for him. To let people know that this isn’t right, it’s not right.”
San Antonio police did not criminally charge the student. In an email, a SAPD spokeswoman told KSAT Investigates detectives forwarded the case to the district attorney’s office and the status of the case is now listed as “unfounded.”
The Bexar County District Attorney’s office told KSAT last week the office did not get a criminal case to review.
Margo Jimenez does not blame the student for her husband’s death. She described the student as her husband’s favorite.
“Who do you think is responsible for what happened?” asked Ibarra.
“I think that the schools, the district,” she said. “Because things happen, who gets to do something about it?”
KSAT Investigates has been following through on what happened to Jimenez and how often students hurt their teachers and school staff. In a 2024 interview, Jimenez said she wanted her husband’s death to lead to safety improvements for other educators.
A fatal fall
“For me, nothing has changed,” Margo Jimenez said. “I have no closure. I still don’t know what actually happened.”
Jimenez wants to know what led up to her husband’s deadly encounter.
“It’s probably gonna kill me,” she said. “It’s gonna hurt me. It really is. But I still wanna know, I need to know.”
For two years, the only information Jimenez said she had gotten is from a one page long San Antonio police report and occasional updates from a homicide detective before the case was closed.
KSAT Investigates requested records and footage to learn what happened before and after Mr. Fred’s injury.
At around 10:30 a.m. on February 7, 2024, Alfred Jimenez was in the Brandeis High School gym when he told a student with intellectual disabilities multiple times to let go of another student’s wrists, according to a Northside ISD police report.
Records state the student “finally listened,” then turned to push Jimenez by the shoulders.
Alfred Jimenez fell backwards and hit his head on the basketball court.
Several others were in the gym when the incident happened, according to incident reports. It’s not clear if they were students or staff.
“No one witnessed the assault,” according to a San Antonio police report.
Records show a Northside ISD police officer found Jimenez laying on the floor with blood near his head. He was unconscious and breathing.
Hours later, the report states Margo Jimenez told Northside ISD police that part of her husband’s skull had to be removed during surgery because of brain bleeding and swelling.
The Northside ISD police officer told Jimenez the student was “unaware of what had happened,” according to the incident report.
The Northside ISD police report said the incident was being investigated as an aggravated assault against a public servant, aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury, and manslaughter.
San Antonio police took over the case after Alfred Jimenez died, which records show was listed as a manslaughter investigation.
KSAT requested a copy of the case files from San Antonio police and footage related to the incident from Northside ISD. Both entities have filed paperwork asking the attorney general’s office to keep the records sealed.
Tell us your story
KSAT Investigates reporter Daniela Ibarra is not done investigating violence against teachers in the classroom, and she needs your help.
If you’ve experienced violence in the classroom or if you’re the parent of a student who has injured a teacher and want to share your story, we want to hear from you.
You can share your story and any photos or videos of the injuries or aftermath by filling out this form or by emailing Ibarra at dibarra@ksat.com.
Daniela is an IRE 2025 Chauncey Bailey Investigative Reporting Fellow. This story is part of her yearlong project focusing on teacher injuries by students.
Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.