Florida Teens Attack Girl on Youtube
Posted by shadmia on April 12, 2008
Victoria “Tori” Lindsey,16, a senior at Mulberry High School, said she learned a lesson about betrayal and friendship after receiving a severe beating at the hands of her “friends”. The incident was recorded and placed on the video-sharing site Youtube. Six girls, one boy and a young man were arrested on charges of felony battery and false imprisonment.
Arrested are: Mercades Nichols, 17, Brittini Hardcastle, 17, and Britney Mayes, 17, facing charges of felonious battery, false imprisonment and kidnapping in connection with the attack. Cara Murphy, 16, Kayla Hassell, 15, April Cooper, 14, Zachary Ashley, 17, and Stephen Schumaker, 18, facing charges of felonious battery and false imprisonment.
The girl’s mother, Talisa Lindsay, said it was painful to watch the video, which a Polk County sheriff’s detective brought to their home days after the attack so Tori could identify the girls involved. Click on the image below to see the video.
“When you see your daughter who is not striking back to defend herself and someone keeps coming at you like that, it’s a horrible thing,” the girl’s mother said. “I just don’t understand it.”
Tori’s father said he didn’t recognize his daughter in the emergency room. “I’ve never seen anyone’s face disfigured like that,”he said. The teens arrested and accused of participating in the videotaped beating engaged in “animalistic behavior,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in a press conference. “It’s pack mentality,” he said. “They lured her there to beat her.” According to the Sheriff’s Office, Tori Lindsey was having problems at home and was staying with a friend, Nichols, in Lakeland. On March 30 about 8:30 p.m., Tori arrived at Nichols’ house on West Calendar Court and was greeted by Nichols and another girl. She went into the bedroom where she was staying, and a third girl, April Cooper, 14, began to insult and threaten her, then hit her in the face several times and slammed her head into a wall, knocking her unconscious.
When Tori awoke, she was on the living-room couch surrounded by six girls who took turns hitting and kicking her while the beating was videotaped. She told investigators that the six blocked the door, held her down and beat her for a half-hour. Sometime during the attack, her left ear and eye were injured. While this was going on, two boys, both teenagers acted as lookouts. Tori told investigators that Schumaker and Ashley knocked on the front door and warned the girls they were making so much noise that neighbors were wondering what was going on.“I could be facing a year and a day in jail for something I didn’t do,” Schumaker said. After the beating, three of the girls drove her to another friend’s house, where they told her, “If you go to the police, the next beating will be worse.” Tori Lindsay has bruises, a concussion and damage to her left ear and eye, although her family said she is expected to recover.
The family would like a public apology from the girls, and they also want a law to protect kids on video and social-networking Web sites. Tori plans to continue her schooling at home rather than return to Mulberry High.
Mary Nichols, the grandmother of one of the girls who was arrested, says her family is suffering, too. The beating is alleged to have happened at Nichols’ house while she was at work. Since the sheriff’s office released the video this week, Nichols said, she has been receiving threatening, obscenity-laced telephone calls, and someone scratched her car.
“This is definitely traumatic to everyone, not just to Tori’s family,” Nichols said.
A Polk County judge issued a gag order in the case, after parents of some of the teens and Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd appeared on national TV shows discussing the case. Meanwhile, a central Florida couple, Darlene and Jerry Ashley, claim they are being hounded by angry callers who mistakenly think they’re connected to the notorious videotaped beating of the girl. Their phone number was mistakenly posted by a user of the YouTube video-sharing Web site, along with the numbers of the other teens charged in the beating. Callers think the Lakeland couple are the parents of one of the teen boys involved who has the same last name. They say they have gotten around 300 angry, abusive calls from all over the country.
Mercades Nichols, 17, remains in the Polk Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Bartow along with the six other minors who were arrested in the case. Schumaker, 18, was released from the Polk County Jail on bail.
April 14, 2008 at 10:10 am
You must be kidding the grandmother says she is suffering too? Do you really think that a few phone calls and car being scratched is anything equal to the girl being beatin for 30 minutes? Give me a break….
April 14, 2008 at 2:11 pm
This is wrong how could they do this to her. I think the 17 year old girls should be in jail.
April 15, 2008 at 3:32 am
These girls are really ugly and greasy looking. I believe it was jealousy, whatever excuse they give, it was jealousy.
April 15, 2008 at 2:34 pm
This makes me so angry. Someone should beat these girls like that or scare the hell out of them at least. I wish the victim had someone to stick up for her.
April 21, 2008 at 3:24 pm
My hope is that the judge puts himself in the victim’s shoes as he gives out the sentence. The punishment defintely needs to fit the crime and if you think that people won’t react by all means no that the sentencing phase will not go unnoticed.
April 24, 2008 at 12:28 pm
this just shows how bad violence really is. most parents rly dont understand what really goes on during school. This just needs to be a wake up call to schools that bullying doaes happen and parents need to believe that it could be your kid that is bullying. we need to start speaking out towards teen violence or our little brothers and sisters genrations will most likely be just as bad and we dont want them to go through the same things that has happened to this girl. So if you care for your younger generation then speak out and make a difference.
April 28, 2008 at 5:15 pm
THIS SERIOULSY MADE ME NAUSEAUS TO WATCH THAT POOR GIRL.. SHE IS ONLY HALF THE SIZE OF THAT DUMB BITCH BEATING THE SHIT OUT OF HER. IM SO GLAD THEY FILMED THIS ONLY BECAUSE HOPEFULLY THIS MAKES THEIR SENTENCE WORSE. I HOPE THEY GET THE SHIT BEAT OUT OF THEM IN JAIL YOU SERIOUSLY HAVE TO BE SO FUKED UP IN THE HEAD TO DO THIS TO ANOTHER PERSON, IT SADDENS ME TO KNOW THAT THIS REALLY HAPPENS EVERYDAY AND I DONT THINK PEOPLE REALIZE THAT AND EVEN WORSE THAY DONT CARE BECAUSE THEY THINK IT DOESNT INVOLVE THEM!!! THESE GIRLS BETTER GET SUITABLE SENTENCES AND NOT ANY FUKING “PROBATION” AS USUAL I AM SO SICK OF SEEING KIDS LET OFF FOR HORRIBLE CRIMES AND ACT STUPID LIKE THEY “DIDNT KNOW” OR IT WAS A “JOKE” JUST BECAUSE THEY ARE UNDER AGE DOESNT MEAN THEY DONT KNOW ANY BETTER, ITS ALL JUST AN EXCUSE. FUK THOSE GIRLS THEY WILL GET WHATS COMING!
June 1, 2008 at 5:02 pm
I think that this girl definatly went through a dramatic experience, don’t get me wrong. I also think that the goal of the “white trash” participants was reached in becoming e-famous. The media should stop blowing this shit up. Stop making this something that it isn’t. Punish the offenders, support the victim, but stop capitalizing on the misfortune of this poor girl. Would any one have veard about it if it wasn’t on video? Or if it were boys? What if it were black kids? Noone would care. Stop supporting these lil assholes.
June 1, 2008 at 9:50 pm
I have never n my life seen some shit like this, all of them r some true punks. It took all of them to jump 1 girl. They should b ashamed of there sleves. And the big one keeps hittn her pick on someone your own size tramp
June 1, 2008 at 9:51 pm
I would like to know the outcome
June 6, 2008 at 1:13 pm
PFFT UNREAL … THEY ALL NEED TO ROT …
June 8, 2008 at 1:17 am
when i first saw the video i so upset wow if i was that girl all of thoses gurls would be getting an ass wopping one by one it dosent matter if u dont like someones myspace it myspace and they just need to get over them selfs there just a bunch of stupid teenaged girls that need to get a life
June 15, 2008 at 7:50 pm
The charges were dropped against the boys and Cara. From the start, law enforcement lied. Anyone who actually examined the released evidence knew this.
People encouraging violence against these kids should be ashamed, you can get them severely or permanently injured. You’re no better than Cara Murphy who failed to stop the beating, in fact you’re worse, you’re like the camera girl (NOT Cara Murphy) who cheered the beating.
Trying 14 and 15 year-old girls “as adults” for *misdemeanor* battery is simply child abuse and the reasons are purely political, the sheriff is running for re-election in the fall.
There are still many more lies and a lot of misinformation about this case out there. The girls do deserve a fair punishment for their misdemeanor battery, but they do not deserve a deluge of death threats, massive encouragement of violence against them on the Internet (conveniently ignored by the media and bloggers), biased judicial system (the bail amounts were ludicrously high if you know *anything* about Florida bail amounts in similar cases), and being shut silent by the judge while law enforcement saturates the media with lies about them.
Those girls went way too far trying to get back for whatever wrong, real or imagined, the victim did to them. Now powerful people are going way too far in exploiting this for their own gain. It’s poetic justice but it is NOT justice. And the difference is those people are adults and they are trying to outright destroy the children’s lives. And the entire world cheers. Hypocrisy is alive and well.
June 16, 2008 at 4:36 am
See the latest update to this story here on my blog at: http://shadmia.com/2008/06/16/charges-dropped-against-3-teens/
June 16, 2008 at 1:37 pm
I have no pity for any of them, they knew the differences between right and wrong and they made there choice. Insuffucient evidence my ass, They needed some of these kids to walk in order to build there cases against the others. This was the city doing a deal. They agreed to drop the charges as to not have anything on their permanent records and in six months their records will be expunged and in exchange these boys and girls will be on the witness stand singing like a canary.
There is a BIG difference in being aquitted and having charges dismissed. In fact if the SAO decides to, they have 3 years from the time of the arrest to recharge them. I doubt they will but……
June 24, 2008 at 4:52 pm
THOSE GIRLS NEED TO GET BEATEN UP JUST LIKE THE BEAT UP THAT GIRL AND SEE HOW IT FEELS. THEY ARE SO MESSED UP IN THE HEAD. I HOPE THEY ROT IN JAIL. FUCKIN SKANKS. THEY SHOULD BE HUNG.