What was supposed to be a dream NFL outing for one Houston family has turned into a criminal case and a sweeping lawsuit. The parents of an 8-year-old boy say a stadium worker followed their son into a bathroom at NRG Stadium, pulled down his pants inside a stall, and tried to undress himself before the child managed to escape.
Now that worker, identified in court records as 21-year-old Ushay Marquise Nixon, is facing felony charges, and the boy’s parents are suing the food services giant Aramark and other stadium vendors. Their case is forcing some uncomfortable questions about how safe kids really are inside massive venues that market themselves as family-friendly.
The Alleged Assault Inside NRG Stadium
The family had gone to NRG Stadium for a Houston Texans game, expecting the usual mix of noise, nachos, and big plays. Instead, the parents say their son’s day was shattered when an Aramark employee approached him near the restroom and then followed him inside. According to their account, the worker steered the boy into a stall, locked the door, and pulled down the child’s pants, turning a routine bathroom break into a terrifying moment that now sits at the center of a lawsuit accusing an Aramark worker of sexual assault.
Inside that locked stall, the worker allegedly went further. Court filings and related coverage say that inside, he dropped the child’s clothing and began pulling down his own pants before the boy bolted and ran back to his family. The parents say their son’s quick escape is the only reason the incident did not escalate into an even more serious assault, and they argue that no child should have been left vulnerable to that kind of danger in a stadium packed with adults and security.
Who Is The Worker And What Are The Charges?
According to Harris County court records, the man accused in the case is Ushay Marquise Nixon, a 21-year-old former custodial worker at the stadium. Reporting on the criminal case notes that Ushay Marquise Nixon faces felony indecency with a child and attempted aggravated sexual assault charges tied to what allegedly happened in that restroom during the Texans game. Those are among the most serious child sex offenses in Texas law, signaling how prosecutors are framing the gravity of the accusations.
Additional summaries of the case describe how, inside the locked stall, the worker allegedly undressed the boy and started to pull down his own pants before the child ran away, details echoed in a separate NEED TO KNOW breakdown of the allegations. A local television segment on the case has also highlighted that police say an 8-year-old boy was molested inside a bathroom in NRG Stadium during a Texans game, underscoring how the criminal investigation and the civil lawsuit are now moving in parallel.
The Parents’ Lawsuit Against Aramark And Stadium Vendors
On the civil side, the boy’s parents have filed a lawsuit that targets not just the individual worker but the companies that put him in a position of trust. Their complaint accuses Aramark and other stadium vendors of failing to protect an 8-year-old from a foreseeable risk, arguing that the corporations that profit from NFL crowds also carry a duty to keep kids safe in every corner of the building. In their filing, the family’s lawyers describe the case as “Parents File Lawsuit Accusing Aramark Employee of Sexually Assaulting 8-Year-Old Boy at Parents File Lawsuit a Year Old Boy at Old Boy at NRG Stadium During Texans, language that underscores how central corporate accountability is to their case.
Another summary of the suit frames it as “Parents Sue Aramark Over Alleged Assault of Year Old Boy at Parents Sue Aramark an 8-Year Year Old Boy at an NFL Game, and notes that the parents say their son has been having night terrors and asking why anyone would “let this happen” to him. The family is not only seeking damages for emotional trauma but also pressing for changes in hiring, supervision, and bathroom safety protocols so that no other child ends up in the same position.
How The Family Says Their Son Has Changed
For the parents, the legal filings are only one part of the story. They have described a child who used to love football and big crowds but now struggles with sleep and anxiety. One account of their statements notes that the boy has been waking up with night terrors and repeatedly asking his parents why adults at the stadium did not protect him, a detail that appears in the same legal summary that outlines the broader lawsuit. For a family that thought they were giving their son a special day, they now say they are instead navigating therapy appointments and trying to rebuild his sense of safety in public spaces.
In another recounting of the parents’ perspective, the boy’s mother is quoted as saying that her son’s gameday experience was “corrupted” when the worker allegedly pulled down his pants and tried to undress himself, a description that tracks with the allegations laid out in the But parents accuse Aramark worker coverage. The family’s lawyers have leaned on those details to argue that the emotional fallout is not abstract, it is playing out in a child’s day-to-day life, from how he uses public restrooms to whether he feels comfortable returning to a stadium at all.
What The Case Says About Stadium Safety
Beyond the immediate criminal charges and civil claims, the case is raising broader questions about how stadiums vet and supervise the thousands of workers who move through concourses, restrooms, and club levels on game day. Aramark, which runs food and facility services at venues across the country, is at the center of that conversation here, with the lawsuit arguing that the company and its partners should have had stronger safeguards in place to prevent a worker from isolating a child in a bathroom stall. The parents’ attorneys have framed their complaint as a wake-up call for the entire stadium industry, a point they drive home in their own Parents File Lawsuit summary that calls for those responsible to be held accountable.
The case is also unfolding in a city that prides itself on hosting major events, from Texans games to international soccer matches and concerts, at a sprawling complex that includes NRG Stadium and the surrounding grounds. A general overview of the venue notes that NRG Park is a massive operation, which only heightens the stakes when something goes wrong inside one of its bathrooms. As the parents push their lawsuit forward, they are effectively asking the court to force one of the biggest names in stadium services to rethink how it keeps children safe in spaces that, until now, many families may have taken for granted.
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