DC teacher's aide who punished nonverbal student with hot sauce gets community service
WASHINGTON, D.C. - A Washington D.C. teacher’s aide who used hot sauce to discipline a nonverbal child with autism was given community service as part of a plea deal on Monday.
What we know:
Imani Davis pleaded guilty to assault charges in connection with the incident that happened at J.C. Nalle Elementary in Southeast DC in September 2025.
Attorneys for the family say Davis admitted to putting hot sauce on her finger, then placing her finger in 9-year-old David Griggs’ mouth as punishment.
According to the police report, the teacher’s aide claimed the nonverbal student "deserved it."
DC teaching aide on leave after allegedly sticking finger with hot sauce into an autistic student’s mouth
A J.C. Nalle Elementary teaching aide allegedly covered her finger with hot sauce, put it in a nonverbal autistic child’s mouth and reasoned to a witness that the student "deserved it," according to a police report.
What's next:
Davis is scheduled to appear for a deferred sentencing review in July.
What they're saying:
The child’s mother, Shanice Griggs, said she sensed her son's pain that day when she spoke to FOX 5 DC last year.
"My son is very active, he loves me, and he always gives me a kiss at the door when I come home from work," Griggs said. "He wasn't moving the same. He was just laying there on the bed.
She was even more frustrated with the situation because David’s teacher did not report the incident until hours after it happened.
"He said something at the end of the day to the principal, not right then and there," the child's mother said. "This happened around 12:30-one o'clock, I was told. I didn’t get notified until 4:45."
The Source: Information from this story was sourced from the attorneys for the Griggs family and previous reporting by FOX 5 DC.