The mother of an 11-year-old girl charged in a brutal, video-recorded fight at a Florida middle school says her daughter was not the aggressor—but a child who finally snapped after enduring repeated bullying and harassment.
The woman, whose name has not been released to protect her daughter’s identity, said she was outraged that the cafeteria attack at Nautilus Middle School in Miami Beach late last month has resulted in felony charges against the girl.
“My daughter at 11 years old has to go through this and see herself in the news,” the mother told WPLG through tears while discussing footage of the assault that has since gone viral.
“She’s not a criminal, she’s a child,” she said of her daughter, an honor roll student now facing a second-degree felony aggravated battery charge.
“She made a mistake, but she is a child who felt the need to defend herself.”
The other girl’s mother said her 11-year-old daughter suffered a concussion during the beating and has been too frightened to return to school.
But the mother of the girl captured in the video said her daughter was the one being bullied, claiming the family had spent weeks seeking help from school officials.
“I want to tell the judge to please not only see the video, but also what happened before it, what led up to it and why she felt the need to react this way,” the mother said.
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“It’s because my daughter was tired of being harassed and bullied.”
She said she knows the video is difficult to watch and stressed that she “does not condone it.” Still, she believes the confrontation “could have been prevented.”
The girl’s mother described her as a student with perfect attendance who consistently earns a place on the honor roll.
The Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office said the case was initially referred as a misdemeanor battery matter through a juvenile diversion program.
Prosecutors later filed a second-degree felony aggravated battery charge after the victim’s mother requested prosecution and officials reviewed the girl’s injuries.
“I was just grateful that she was alive,” the attacked student’s mother told WPLG through tears earlier this week. “She was struck over 40 times before anybody intervened.”
An attorney for the injured girl accused the school of failing to protect her, alleging that administrators had been warned in advance about an “imminent attack.”
Miami-Dade County Public Schools officials said staff members met with both students before the incident in an effort to de-escalate the conflict.
“The matter was addressed in accordance with the code of student conduct and referred to law enforcement,” the school district said.