On Tuesday, officers declared that the 15-year-old Florida boy who was seen assaulting a 9-year-old girl viciously on a school bus has been charged with battery.
The deeply disturbing video that has been circulated broadly on social media platforms highlights the attack of a third-grader at Coconut Palm K-9 Academy in Homestead by two older teens last Wednesday. In the video, it is apparent that the young child was unable to defend herself from their merciless thrashing which occurred while others watched helplessly onboard a full bus.
For nearly thirty seconds, classmates watch without intervening as the attack is filmed and recorded.
After analyzing the situation, the school’s police officer concluded that a civil citation was an appropriate resolution for the 15-year-old involved. However, Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle chose to disagree; after further review, she deemed it necessary to issue harsher punishment in order to send a stronger message of justice.
“We believe that, based on the evidence and the circumstances, the use of a civil citation was incompatible with the level of violence displayed by the 15-year-old against his much younger and smaller victim,” Fernandez Rundle stated. “As a result, we have filed criminal battery charges with our juvenile courts.”
In order to protect his identity, the minor’s name remains undisclosed.
Last week, the mother of the victim passionately declared her intentions to file charges against the perpetrator.
“My goal is not to incriminate any other children,” the mother stated. “My goal is to make sure they have the security for the kids to make sure this doesn’t continue to happen.”
The devastated mother revealed that the administrators of her children’s school, overwhelmed by violence around their facility, strongly suggested transferring her three children to another educational institution.
According to her, her two oldest children were also bullied during their limited time at the school and despite informing counselors and administrators of this issue, no action was taken.
