After her alleged attacker's mother appeared on NBC's Today Show Friday, beaten teen Josie Ratley's attorney again dismissed the idea that Ratley owes 16- year-old Wayne Treacy an apology.
"He knew exactly what he was going to do, he set out with the intent to kill her," said Ratley family attorney Sean Domnick of Treacy.
Donna Powers said on the Today Show that Ratley was the instigator in the March 17, 2010 attack. She said Ratley bullied her son first and owes Treacy an apology
"I believe Josie bullied Wayne, I believe she did," Powers said. "I would want her to say to Wayne, 'I'm sorry.'"
Treacy has been charged as an adult with attempted murder and has been behind bars since the attack on the then 15-year-old Ratley at a bus stop outside Deerfield Beach Middle School.
Police say Treacy sought out Ratley after she sent him text messages about his older brother, Michael, who had recently committed suicide.
"I don't know Josie and I don't know her family and to say she's a bully may not be the correct word, I just feel when this texting was going on she knew what happened to Michael and for them to text and Wayne asked her to 'stop, please don't go this way,' to send such cruel messages, it's mean, it's horrible," Powers said. "I don't know if that's bullying, maybe she antagonized him or egged him on, I don't know the right word there."
On Wednesday, Treacy's attorney, Russell Williams, filed a motion to use a temporary insanity defense. Williams said Treacy was not in control of what he was doing at the time of the attack.
"We all know he did something, we now need to know why...I don't think even he knows why," Williams said. "His cognitive ability at the time of the incident was so impaired that he could not determine right from wrong."
Powers said Treacy was still grieving from the death of his brother when he received Ratley's text.
"Michael was his best friend, he was like a mentor to Wayne, and I know, we were hurting, we were both hurting, I didn't realize, now, today, how much that it's effected him," she said.
Domnick later blasted Treacy's insanity defense saying it "re-victimizes Josie."
Ratley suffered severe brain damage in the attack and spent over 40 days at the pediatric intensive care unit at Broward General Medical Center. Prosecutors said Wednesday that she is improving but will never fully recover from the attack.
Powers said she hopes Ratley fully recovers and said both the Treacy and Ratley families have been through a lot.
"I know, by God she'll get better, I believe that," she said. "It's very horrible what they went through and it's horrible what my son, what he's going through."
