19 months ago
By: Tammie FieldsPatrick says “I'm very upset with these internet companies as far as I'm concerned My Space is the anti-Christ for children."
Trash talking on a My Space page is what led to this beat down according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office. But the victim's mother says it wasn't her daughter who bad-mouthed the girls on the social networking page. It was someone else.
Talisa says "Well we knew that someone had hacked into her My Space because she made us aware of it."
The videotaped fight released on Monday afternoon by the Polk County Sheriff's office was just one of five fights filmed over a period of 30 minutes. At one point the victim's head is slammed into a bedroom wall and she's knocked unconscious. The girls accused of taping it seem to enjoy it. You can hear them on tape cheering each other on and begging the victim to “fight back!”
The fight happened on March 30th at 6124 West Calendar Court in Lakeland. The victim was spending time at a friend's house during spring break last week but that friend is now charged with attacking her.
Sheriff Grady Judd spoke about a portion on the tape where one girl said, “There's only 17 seconds left. Make it good. That is animalistic behavior. It's pack mentality. They lured her there to beat her."
When the victim tried to leave you can see one of the attacker's blocking her from leaving.
Officials say the girls planned to post the video on the internet for all to see. Talisa says “This My Space, You Tube. It's just gone too far and what's it's doing to our kids it's just too much."
Polk County Sheriff's office says when the attack was over, three of the suspects forced the victim into a vehicle and took her to another location where they let her go. They told her not to call law enforcement or she would be beaten even worse.
Talisa and Patrick say their daughter is now having nightmares and doesn't want to go back to high school. They say she still has a lot of healing to do both emotionally and physically.
Patrick says "When I saw my daughter in the emergency room I didn't recognize my own daughter. It was that bad."
The six girls accused in the beating are between the ages of 14 and 17. Two males, aged 16 and 18, are accused of being look-outs during the beating. They live on the same street.
Friends and family members say they did nothing wrong but did give the girls a ride home after they gave up some gas money.
The victim is out of the hospital and back at home. Her parents say they're worried about permanent damage to her ear and her eye.
Meanwhile her father says it's likely that the 11th grader will never return to public school they'll home school her instead.
6 p.m. Story
By: Mike DeesonLakeland, Florida - The Polk County Sheriff's office released the video of a teenage girl who, as Sheriff Grady Judd puts it, was "lured so her friends could beat her."
The video shows what Judd says is the second of five beatings the 16-year-old received from people she knew. The attackers say they were upset with so-called "trash talk" the victim posted on her MySpace page, and they say they wanted to post their own video of the beating on MySpace and YouTube.
The sheriff says the victim was first beaten unconscious in a bedroom. When she awoke, she was on a couch in the living room, where the screaming and beatings continued.
"It is disgusting that the attackers find it funny and want to post something on the Internet showing someone nearly beaten to death," says the victim's mother.
Sheriff Judd is calling it one of the most disturbing videos he has seen in a long time and he hopes all those arrested will be tried as adults. They face charges ranging from felony battery, false imprisonment to kidnapping. The sheriff says the attackers "were relentless."
Even though those involved could face prison time, Judd says the teens showed no remorse after their arrests.
"When they were in a holding cell, they were all laughing," Judd says. "One of the teens arrested, who is a cheerleader, asked, 'Does this mean I'm going to miss cheerleading practice tomorrow?' The others were cutting up and said, 'It looks like we won't be going to the beach this weekend.'"
While the attackers can laugh off the incident, the victim's mother certainly can't.
"You never think it will happen to your family," she says. "To have this happen and see it... is hard to bear."
Click here to read a statement released by the Polk County Sheriff's Office. (PDF)
To see past stories on this case, click below:
- 04/08/08 - Classmates react: The are not bullies!
- 04/09/08 - Gag order issued in teen beating case
- 04/10/08 - Callers harass wrong family in videotaped beating case
Cop kicks prisoner
