Milwaukee, WI
MPS staffer who got plea deal in slapping case had earlier incident
See surveillance footage of slapping incident at Riverside High School
Demitrios Visvardis, a former paraprofessional, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery for slapping Shrone Dunn, an 18-year-old with cerebal palsy.
Courtesy of Milwaukee Police Department
When family members of a special education student voiced displeasure with a deferred plea agreement for former MPS paraprofessional Demitrios Visvardis in February, they were told it was fair given his lack of prior offenses.
Visvardis was charged with battery four months earlier in connection with an incident involving Shrone Dunn, 18, of Riverside High School.
“This ain’t nothing but a slap on the wrist,” Tyrone Dunn, Shrone’s father, said during the plea hearing. “We’re looking for justice.”
Milwaukee County Judge David Borowski assured Dunn of District Attorney Erin Karshen’s ability to fully prosecute based on what was known.
But records obtained by the Journal Sentinel through an open records request raise questions about Visvardis’s history, and how much was known before the plea deal was reached.
Visvardis has no prior criminal record, but documents in his personnel file at Milwaukee Public Schools reference a 2024 accusation that he struck a special education student.
In a December 2025 letter filed after a disciplinary hearing, MPS hearing officer Natalie Fluker said the November 2025 incident involving Shrone Dunn was “the second time in a year that [Visvardis has] been accused of slapping a vulnerable student.”
The letter references findings made by hearing officer Gary Johnson during disciplinary proceedings related to the 2024 incident.
Earlier incident also involved slapping
According to the December letter, another Riverside High School staff member expressed concern to Principal Jeff Lasky after witnessing Visvardis slap an intellectually disabled student on October 10, 2024. As with the incident involving Dunn, review of security footage confirmed the allegations.
Visvardis physically kept the student on a vent near an exit on the first floor of the school building despite the student’s multiple attempts to get up, according to the letter. Describing the footage, Johnson wrote, “The student appears to scream and you turn and slap him on the face. You then exit the hallway.”
Visvardis apologized for the incident, stating it was the worst thing he’d ever done.
Milwaukee Public Schools failed to report prior incident
According to the MPS employee handbook, the district generally follows a progressive discipline model that depends on the behavior and frequency of occurrences.
Johnson found the first incident to be “especially egregious, considering the unnecessary and excessive force” used on Student A and recommended a departure from the progressive discipline model. The departure meant Visvardis would be issued a three-day unpaid suspension and required enrollment in a course in nonviolent crisis intervention.
The school district did not directly respond to questions from the Journal Sentinel about whether the police were notified of the incident in 2024. It also declined to say whether Student A’s parents were informed or what steps were taken to protect the student following the incident.
“The safety of our students is our highest priority,” Stephen Davis, a media relations manager at Milwaukee Public Schools, told the Journal Sentinel in an emailed statement. “We cannot discuss the details of any personnel matter, and the current administration would not be able to speak about how a prior case was addressed in 2024.”
But according to Milwaukee Police Department records, no report associated with Visvardis exists since January 2021 beyond the report on his arrest on November 13, 2025. That’s the day after Riverside cameras captured footage of Visvardis slapping Dunn “with an open hand to the left side of face,” according to police records.
Review hearing scheduled for this week
Visvardis is due back in court on Thursday, June 4.
According to the deferred prosecution agreement obtained by the Journal Sentinel, he will be eligible to seek employment in a “school, group home or any other place of employment where he would interact with other vulnerable people” this month, given successful completion of an anger management treatment program.
Meanwhile, the Dunn Family has filed a lawsuit against the City of Milwaukee, Milwaukee Board of School Directors, and Visvardis.
April Quevedo covers Metcalfe Park for the Journal Sentinel’s Neighborhood Dispatch. Contact: aquevedo@usatodayco.com.
Neighborhood Dispatch reporting is supported by Northwestern Mutual Foundation, Journal Foundation, Bader Philanthropies, Greater Milwaukee Foundation, and reader contributions to the Journal Sentinel Community-Funded Journalism Project. Journal Sentinel editors maintain full editorial control over all content. To support this work, visit jsonline.com/support. Checks can be addressed to Local Media Foundation (memo: “JS Community Journalism”) and mailed to P.O. Box 85015, Chicago, IL 60689.
The JS Community-Funded Journalism Project is administered by Local Media Foundation, tax ID #36-4427750, a Section 501(c)(3) charitable trust affiliated with Local Media Association, and EnMotive, a subsidiary of USA TODAY Co.
Milwaukee, WI
Post From Community: Laughing Liberally Milwaukee | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service
The Brewers drafted 20 players over the course of 20 rounds in the 2026 MLB Draft, including first-round shortstop Trey Ebel, second-round outfielder Sawyer Strosnider, Wilmot Union HS (Wisconsin) shortstop Chance Ruby, and CC Sabathia’s son, first baseman Carsten Sabathia III. The team now has until 4 p.m. CT on July 27 to sign each draft pick. We’ll keep track of the signees below.
Milwaukee’s total signing bonus pool is $8,042,900, which can be allocated as the team chooses (i.e., slot bonuses are not the guaranteed signing value). Rounds 11-20 automatically have $150,000 allocated to the slot — money given to these picks only counts toward the bonus pool if they exceed $150,000. Teams that exceed their bonus pool face financial penalties, with higher thresholds resulting in the loss of future picks.
Division-leading Brewers aim to avoid series sweep against Skenes and the Pirates
Having won two of their last three series, the Pittsburgh Pirates return home to PNC Park on Sunday afternoon for a matinee matchup against the Milwaukee Brewers in search of a third straight victory and their first series sweep since May in the final game before the All-Star Break. The Brewers are 23 games over .500 as the season hits the mid-Summer Classic, but are in danger of being swept for the first time since April during their season-longest six-game losing skid. Milwaukee will send left-hander Robert Gasser (2-3, 4.15 ERA) to the mound in search of his third win in his last four starts, while the Pirates will counter with three-time All-Star Paul Skenes, who is looking for just his second win since mid-May.
How to Watch Milwaukee Brewers vs Pittsburgh Pirates:
Date: July 12, 2026
Time: 12:00 p.m. ET
TV Channel: MLB.TV – Pittsburgh Pirates
Location: PNC Park
Live Stream the Milwaukee Brewers vs Pittsburgh Pirates game on Fubo: Start watching now!
Skenes (7-8, 3.58 ERA), now in his third season in the majors, has struggled to replicate the success he had in his first two seasons, where he took home NL Rookie of the Year Award followed by the NL Cy Young Award the following year, having posted just one victory in his last 10 starts. The 24-year-old right-hander had his worst outing of the season on July 1 when he gave up seven earned runs, including a pair of home runs, in just four innings as part of a 10-6 loss to the Phillies.
Brewers first baseman Jake Bauers leads the team with 18 home runs and 59 RBIs this season, both marking career highs for the 30-year-old journeyman. Bauers broke into the majors in 2018 with Tampa Bay, but had bounced around the league playing in Cleveland, Seattle, and with the Yankees before landing the everyday job with Milwaukee in 2024, helping the Brewers make consecutive playoff appearances.
What time is Brewers vs Pirates?
Coverage of the Milwaukee Brewers vs Pittsburgh Pirates game starts Sunday, July 12, at 12:00 p.m ET. Tune in to see if the Brewers can avoid the series sweep or if Skenes can find his form and lead the Pirates to the home win.
What channel is the Brewers vs Pirates game on?
Looking to watch the game? Subscribers can tune to MLB.TV – Pittsburgh Pirates to catch the action. Make sure you subscribe to Fubo now to watch this matchup at home or on the go with the Fubo TV app.
Watch the Milwaukee Brewers vs Pittsburgh Pirates game on Fubo: Start watching now!
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