The 15-year-old boy who allegedly appeared on video beating a nine-year-old girl on a Florida school bus is facing criminal battery charges.
State Attorney Katherine Fernandez announced in a Facebook post that her office had filed “criminal battery charges” against the boy in juvenile court for “pummeling” the younger student on February 1.
Breitbart News detailed the shocking footage of the incident on February 3:
In the clip, yelling is heard as the person recording keeps the camera on the school bus ceiling. When the yelling intensifies, the camera turns and shows a boy in a maroon-colored shirt allegedly hitting a girl wearing a white top.
Moments later, a boy wearing a black hoodie appears to bend over the girl and hit her repeatedly in the head.
WARNING – GRAPHIC VIDEO:
Fernandez wrote that the incident was “far more serious than a simple student altercation” and that she disagreed with the decision of the school’s police officer to issue a civil citation rather than arresting him for misdemeanor battery. She argued the officer’s response did not fit the “level of violence displayed by the 15-year-old against a much younger and smaller victim.”
Similarly, the mother of the victim has taken issue with the school’s approach to dealing with bullying and violence, 7 News Miami noted.
“My child is not the first, and if they don’t do anything about it, it’s not going to be the last,” she said. “It’s just very sad because there were many points where adults could have stopped this from getting as bad as it did.”
Local 10 News reported that the mother had expressed on Thursday that she intended to press charges.
“My goal is not to incriminate any other children,” she said. “My goal is to make sure they have the security for the kids to make sure this doesn’t continue to happen.”
The boy was set to have a child court appearance on Wednesday, per 7 News Miami.