Three teenage girls are facing felony charges after cellphone video shows them ganging up on a classmate and beating her on top of the bleachers at a Miami Springs park.
The beating happened at Stafford Park after school on Monday. The girls, who attend Academy for Innovative Education Charter School, were surrounded by other classmates who can be heard on video egging them on to fight.
Just before the physical attack starts, one boy is heard in the video yelling out, "I came to see action, not kisses," while others laughed.
The beating lasted for about 25 seconds. The three girls pounced on their classmate, leaving her with a deep cut on her neck, bruising and swelling in her face. The victim does not fight back.
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Miami Springs Chief of Police Armando Guzman said the victim’s mom reported the incident.
"These are young girls — how quickly they resort to violence, and when you come to find out what it’s about, it’s ridiculous issues," he said.
According to an arrest report, one of the defendants said she was upset because the victim was talking badly about her.
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"Apparently one of the things we hear is that victim had said or done something to one of the other young ladies who were arrested — might have also involved a boy," Guzman said.
All of the defendants are 14 years old and are now facing attempted aggravated battery, which is a felony.
"There's other ways to resolve issues than resorting to violence and then, you know, making it almost light of it by posting it all over the place," Guzman said. "There's other ways to resolve it, counseling or through the school — what could be so serious to resort to this type of violence?"
The mother of one of the defendants told NBC6 the victim had been bothering her daughter. She is due back in court on June 15.
While the fight happened after school and off campus, AIE Charter's principal told NBC6 they have no tolerance for this behavior and have addressed the issue in accordance with school policy.
