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Background: A Target store location in Homestead, Fla. (Google Maps). Inset: Martha Juliana Mendoza (Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation).
A Florida woman has been taken into custody following allegations that she assaulted her daughter after the young girl went shopping at Target with a friend.
Martha Juliana Mendoza, aged 43, faces charges of child abuse, battery by strangulation, and aggravated assault, stemming from an incident reported on Wednesday night. According to a police report obtained by Law&Crime, Mendoza’s daughter, whose age has not been disclosed, contacted authorities claiming her mother had attacked her. The daughter recounted that she had visited a Target store with a friend earlier in the day, and upon returning home, her mother allegedly “grabbed her by her hair” and “repeatedly banged her head against the wall.”
When officers arrived at Mendoza’s residence in Homestead, Florida, they noted that the daughter displayed “visible redness to her face.” Prior to the incident, the daughter had informed her mother via text that she was going to Target. While she was out, Mendoza reportedly sent multiple messages to her daughter, demanding she return home.
Upon the daughter’s arrival, Mendoza allegedly pulled her inside by her hair, accusing her of being “disrespectful.” The daughter further claimed that Mendoza forced her head against a wall near the entrance before dragging her into the kitchen. There, the situation escalated as Mendoza reportedly “sat on her chest,” making it difficult for the daughter to breathe. In response, the daughter said she tugged on her mother’s hair in an attempt to free herself.
Following this confrontation, the conflict continued as Mendoza allegedly attempted to strike her daughter with a mop, prompting the daughter to once again grab her mother’s hair in self-defense.
According to police, Mendoza called 911 to report her daughter.
When police arrived and read Mendoza her rights, she agreed to speak without a lawyer present. Mendoza told police that when her daughter told her she was going to Target, she told her she could not go, but she “still went anyways.” In a text message, she told her daughter to bring her friend into the house so she could meet them, but she did not do that.
Mendoza told police that when her daughter returned home, she admitted to grabbing the girl’s hair after she came into the home “because she was laughing.” Police said Mendoza denied sitting on her daughter’s chest, but admitted to sitting on top of her during their physical altercation. She also denied that she hit her daughter with the mop. According to the arrest report, Mendoza said her daughter was “screaming and yelling and cursing at her.”
Both Mendoza and her daughter refused medical attention. The daughter chose to stay at the home with her maternal grandmother. Police said the Florida Department of Children and Families was contacted in connection with the incident.
Mendoza was arrested and charged with battery by strangulation, child abuse, and aggravated assault. She remains in custody at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center; her bond has not been set. Her next court date was not available.