A New York City 5th grader died after being punched 'real hard' in the head by a classmate who'd been dared to hit him for $1, family says

• A 12-year-old died after accusing two classmates of punching him, local news reported.
• The student, Romy Vilsaint, told his family that one student punched him in exchange for a dollar.
• The New York police and the Department of Education are said to be investigating the incident.

A 12-year-old child died after accusing a classmate of punching him in exchange for a dollar, according to local reports.

The police said Romy Vilsaint, a fifth grader, told his family that two students punched him at his school in Brooklyn, New York, according to WABC-TV. His family told the outlet that Vilsaint said one of the students was offered a dollar to punch him.

The school, PS 361, did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.

The New York Post reported that Vilsaint went to the nurse's office at school with a headache and left a voicemail for his father saying someone "hit me real hard."

Vilsaint became so ill that he started vomiting and was transported to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead, the report said. The cause of the child's death is unclear, but the boy's family has linked it to his story of an attack.

"They beat my son in the school. They kill him," the boy's father, Romain Vilsaint, told the Post. "Oh, God, I lost my son. I lost my son."

The family told WABC-TV that his mother sent him to New York from Haiti in 2017 "for a better life."

According to the reports, the police are investigating the situation. A Department of Education representative told the Post the incident was "a horrible tragedy."

"Our thoughts are with the family during this incredibly difficult time," the person said. "The safety of our young people is our absolute priority, and this incident will be thoroughly investigated, and we are providing supports to both the family and school community."