Well, talk about your dumb criminals – today, Florida police officials released a tape of 6 girls beating a 16-year-old cheerleader from Mulberry High School, Victoria Lindsay. The attack was carried out so that the video could be put up on the internet. On March 30th, the girl was lured into a house in Lakeland, where two of the girls began yelling at the victim, while a third girl began to assault her, bashing her head into the wall. The girl then went unconscious. When she woke back up, 3 other girls joined in the attack and began to videotape it, laughing and cheering each other on. During the whole event, 2 teenage boys kept watch outside of the house (1 of the boys was an 18-year-old, and the only adult present). The 3 people from the group then forced ther girl into a car and drove her to another location.
The girl had a concussion, injuries to her left eye left ear, and several bruises.
I was able to find information about the teenagers:
In order from top left (bold indicates the kidnappers):
April Cooper, 14, of Lakeland
Britney Mayes, 17, of Lakeland
Cara Murphy, 16, of Lakeland
Brittini Hardcastle, 17, of Lakeland
Kayla Hassell, 15, of Mulberry
Mercades Nichols, 16, of Lakeland
Zachary Ashley, 17, of Lakeland
Stephen Schumaker, 18, of Lakeland
Here’s a clip of the attack (warning, violent content):
And here’s a link to the full video of the attack: http://sports.rightpundits.com/?p=606
Here’s a video of Victoria’s parents’ (Talisa and Patrick) response
So, police found the vido and have charged all 8 teenagers with felony battery, false imprisonment, and kidnapping. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said that both the video and the attack were “shocking — I’ve never seen anything like it… this is outrageous behavior … It’s absolutely an animalistic attack. They lured her into the home for express purpose of filming the attack and posting it on the internet.” The fact that they did this just for the video means that I want more than ever for them to get the maximum punishment - they should be put away for life plus 10 years (life for the kidnapping, 5 for the false imprisonment, and 5 for the felony battery). For those who didn’t participate in the kidnapping, I’d charge them with conspiracy to kidnap, a first degree misdemeanor which gives them up to 1 year in prison, so a total of 11 years. There’s no reason that they shouldn’t go to jail for the rest of their lives – what they did was dispicable, and they need to pay.
Done Ranting,
Ranting Republican
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Tags: 14-Year-Old, 15-Year-Old, 16-Year-Old, 17-Year-Old, 18-Year-Old, Add new tag, April Cooper, Assault, Battery, Britney Mayes, Brittini Hardcastle, Car, Cara Murphy, child, children, crime, Criminal, criminals, False Imprisonment, felony, Felony Battery, Florida, Kayla Hassell, Kidnapping, Lakeland, Law, Laws, Life Sentence, Mercades Nichols, Mulberry, Patrick Lindsay, Police, prison, Punishment, Sentence, Stephen Schumaker, Talisa Lindsay, Tape, Teenagers, Victoria Lindsay, violence, Zachary Ashley
April 9, 2008 at 3:29 AM
[...] Republican Ranting A blog that I post on whenever I see something that makes me want to go off on a Republican (Libertarian every once in a while) rant. Note, all times are for the Eastern time zone, daylight savings time when applicable, so stop leaving comments that it’s only noon in California and I said 3:00 P.M. « 8 Teens Attack A Girl Just to Post the Video on the Internet [...]
April 9, 2008 at 12:37 PM
The Accused
Brittany Mayes, 17, (863) 255-7354
421 Carlton St
Lakeland, FL
Mercedes Nichols, 17, (863) 619-5868
6124 Calendar Ct
West Lakeland, FL 33813
Kayla Hassel, 15, (863) 569-3212
4535 Old Colony Rd
Mulberry, FL 33860
Brittini Hardcastle, 17, (863) 712-5996
1242 Thomasville Circle
Lakeland, FL 33811
Cara Murphy, 16, (863) 502-4321
2262 Highlands Creek Dr
Lakeland, FL
April Cooper, 14, (863) 686-7159
1111 West Greenwood Street
Lakeland, Florida
Zachary Ashley, 17, (863)667-1298
931 Sugar Pl
Lakeland, FL 33801-7510
Stephen Schumaker, 18, (863)646-3139
5128 Woodgreen Ln.
Lakeland, FL 33811-1626
April 9, 2008 at 1:08 PM
I am astonded by the stupidity of one whom would post false information. The address listed above is not, and has never been, the adress of the accused Stephen Schumaker. The person responsible for posting has simply made an error-forgetting that there maybe more than one person in a town with the same last name-thus the reason why first initials are include. Thanks to the horrendous error of the posting moron, much greif through the form of phone calls have been made to a distant relative of Stephen, whom had no involvement in the crime whatsoever. Perhaps an elementary lesson on research and citation validity might be needed. Please edit the post immediately- your error is not appreciated!
April 9, 2008 at 4:15 PM
WTF!!! Stupid Parents!!! of the Victim! ITS NOT THE INTERNET!!! Did youtube tell those kids to beat that girl? No it was planned and whether the net was there or not they were gonna do it!
Second the attackers obviously are lacking discipline and consequences or they wouldn’t have done what they did. Their parents are to blame in this as well!
So some one needs to give those two a lesson on what the internet is. Not to mention that shows like Jackass clearly state at the beginning of the show to not try what they are doing at home. The parents of the victim need to sue the parents of the attackers not the internet. Grow a brain you dumb asses in Florida!
April 10, 2008 at 1:00 PM
those 8 should rot in jail…..i myself would take them round the back of the house one by one and give them each the kicking of their lives…….myheart goes out to that poor girls, she may never trust another person again..and thats so wrong……..
April 12, 2008 at 3:04 AM
Wings: these girls obviously aren’t particularly bright, and since intelligence is, to some degree, inherited…their parents are probably not too bright, either.
April 13, 2008 at 11:31 AM
these girls are scum and they all need to learn how to pluck their eyebrows. the two guys look like some of the biggest white trash i have ever seen. only in florida.
April 13, 2008 at 12:55 PM
The websites ARE a problem just as our media is… Why do you think the losers continue to walk into shopping malls and kill innocent people? They are glorified as celebrities. They become rockstars! It’s the same damn thing going on with You Tube and other sites. Now every human can get their 3 minutes of fame. Why are we surprised?? Look at what continues to be on tv like the Jerry Springer where there is always a beat down. What is entertainment for so man Americans is just sick. People are consumed with reality and this kind of voyeuristic reality is the downward spiral of the country.
April 13, 2008 at 1:02 PM
p.s. As far as all these shootings with the goal of taking out as many innocent people as they can. It does not have a damn thing to do with gun laws. There are laws against killing people! That is the bottom line. People who beat someone to death with their fists… oh crap! we need a law on legal fist usage. Let’s get permits for everyones fists…
People are such lemmings now… Think about it.
April 14, 2008 at 5:51 AM
You all act like this is the first time someone’s been ganged up on.
Now I do feel for the young woman.
But cmon now people… this happens EVERY DAY!
Ofcourse it needs to change!
But it’s not going to happen.
If you change the media: (Music/Videogames/Internet)
You’re just pointing the finger for one.
Two: You’ll turn this great democracy into China.
Three: There’s quite a lot of people who would start violence.
You see… people interpret things differently.
Some people see a violent videogame/movie and want to imitate it (Retard).
Other’s see entertainment. Plain and simple.
The sad truth is… it’s not the media’s fault.
It’s not society’s fault.
People make their own choices in life.
Believe it or not… they do.
Even at 14… you should know well enough not to beat the shit out of someone else. Even if your parents are less intelligent than a rock.
So YOU have responsibility for YOUR own actions.
I dont agree with the jail system.
It’s just a slap on the wrist. They’ll come back out on “Good” behavior. Hurt someone else and end up back in again to rinse and repeat.
Jail doesnt work.
The truth… these kids will get off with a slap on the wrist.
Cept maybe the 18yr old male who didnt throw a punch… just kept lookout… for his jailbait SLUT (whoops she’s gonna kick my ass now) girlfriend. So i guess in the end he deserves it… for one reason or the other.
Think about it though.
This happens every single day.
The media just only blows them into a big deal on slow news days.
(Now Iraq news… Clinton and Obama are still doing the same crap… Bush picks his nose… That right there is a slow news day… almost every day.)
April 14, 2008 at 7:15 AM
TO ME DIZ BITCHES ARE PUSSIES N LETS TALK ABOUT THE GUYS LOL OMG THEY ARE WANKSTAS BIG TIME THATS WHAT U CALL TRAILER TRASH ALL 8 OF DEM…HOW DA FUCK ARE YOU GUNA BEAT UP 1 GIRL AND IS LIKE 6 OF DEM HOES AND DEM HOES LOOK LIKE GUYS ALSO ..IF I WAS VICTORIA I WOULD OF ATLEAST GET SOME PUNCHES BACK EVEN IF I KNEW I STILL WAS GUNA LOSE JUST 2 PROVE DEM HOES THEY AINT ABOUT NOTHING IF THEY WANNA ALL JUMP IN…SO FUCK YA HATERS!!!!!!
April 14, 2008 at 7:15 AM
TO ME DIZ BITCHES ARE PUSSIES N LETS TALK ABOUT THE GUYS LOL OMG THEY ARE WANKSTAS BIG TIME THATS WHAT U CALL TRAILER TRASH ALL 8 OF DEM…HOW DA FUCK ARE YOU GUNA BEAT UP 1 GIRL AND IS LIKE 6 OF DEM HOES AND DEM HOES LOOK LIKE GUYS ALSO ..IF I WAS VICTORIA I WOULD OF ATLEAST GET SOME PUNCHES BACK EVEN IF I KNEW I STILL WAS GUNA LOSE JUST 2 PROVE DEM HOES THEY AINT ABOUT NOTHING IF THEY WANNA ALL JUMP IN…SO FUCK YA HATERS!!!!!!!
April 14, 2008 at 12:43 PM
Hmm, It boggles the mind that one of the parents partly blamed the victim and implied she got what she deserved for her comments and that she shouldn’t say things without expecting repercussions.
Perhaps that mommy would like to put her money where *her* mouth rambled off to and take her own beat down from the victim’s family? Somehow I doubt she’d feel that was fair or that she’d feel it was justified if her daughter was the victim.
This is what happens when people with no social or parenting skills are allowed to breed. If my child had been involved and I knew about it, I’d have hauled her butt downtown myself and then hired a psychologist.
I am and always will be the biggest supporter for my kids, but doing so also means teaching them right from wrong and to be accountable for their own actions.
April 14, 2008 at 12:45 PM
Hmm, It boggles the mind that one of the parents partly blamed the victim and implied she got what she deserved for her comments and that she shouldn’t say things without expecting repercussions.
Perhaps that mommy would like to put her money where *her* mouth rambled off to and take her own beat down from the victim’s family? Somehow I doubt she’d feel that was fair or that she’d feel it was justified if her daughter was the victim.
This is what happens when people with no social or parenting skills are allowed to breed. If my child had been involved and I knew about it, I’d have hauled her butt downtown myself and then hired a psychologist.
I am and always will be the biggest supporter for my kids, but doing so also means teaching them right from wrong and to be accountable for their own actions.
April 15, 2008 at 8:48 PM
Yeah those addresses are not correct. I did a search on Myspace (since they mentioned the website in their video, it’s quite clear they have one), and out of the 8, I only found one girl of the 8 that hasn’t logged on since April 8, 2008. Some of the 8 is on her friends list (on private) is from Alabama. In fact, Mecades (the only myspace page I found) is actually from Mulberry and not Lakeland. Some of them are even from Alabama…….
The addresses above are INCORRECT. It would be nice if someone doesn’t take that seriously and end up harassing innocent people.
April 29, 2008 at 2:53 PM
haha Vanessa you talk so well .lol…… Anyways..Those boys weren’t involved, they have no evidence at all showing that they were.. All 6 girls have said that those boys knew nothing about it. Grady Judd released the video on national television BEFORE they talked to a SINGLE witness, actually they didn’t speak to ANY witnesses until 9 days later. Yeah there were neighbors around who heard the noise, and those neighbors seen Zach, and Steven at Zachs house. (which was next door!!) So What I want to know is why Grady Judd released this video, and pretty much stated that everyone was guilty before he even had facts!!! And if you people have not seen a fight before where the hell have you been living? It’s a fight- now there are people making death threats OVER A FIGHT! Where the hell is the logic in that???? How can anyone justify that? Some people need to GET A LIFE!!
April 29, 2008 at 5:27 PM
The witnesses were talked to – they were arrested before that video came out.
May 27, 2008 at 12:07 AM
The boys were arrested with not a SHRED of evidence against them. hmmm if they were involved why has every girl (except the victim) said that they weren’t? Why are they no where on the video? Why isn’t there a single piece of evidence on them ANYWHERE????
May 27, 2008 at 10:15 PM
If one looks at the actual evidence:
1) The girls are accused of *misdemeanor* battery, not felony battery, not aggravated battery.
2) They never “lured” the victim, they did just the opposite and relented only at the insistence of the adult who gave the victim a ride.
3) The “evidence” against the boys is so flimsy it borders on ridiculous.
4) The victim clearly suffered a concussion, but it now seems possible that she was NEVER knocked out. Certainly the second video directly contradicts what she testified about it. I do not think she was lying, but I do think her memory got messed up.
None of the above probably matters, the judge will cave in to public pressure and give out long prison sentences and make all the girls into felons for life.
May 28, 2008 at 10:50 PM
1) OK, the prosecutor’s a wimp who doesn’t want to throw the book at them.
2) They did the opposite how? Are you saying she lured them? I lost you here.
3) OK, drop the charges on the boys if you want.
4) If her memory was messed up, isn’t that pretty serious?
June 15, 2008 at 8:10 PM
1) The prosecutor is not a wimp, he *upgraded* the other charge to *first degree felony* kidnapping, that’s level 10 in Florida, highest level felony below capital punishment felonies. It means *mandatory* label of felon for life, the judge is not allowed to change that (unlike with lesser felonies). In Florida such label pretty much screws up your life, it will tell the 14-year-old there’s no redemption for her EVER, just eternal punishment.
The prosecutor *had* to charge them just with *misdemeanor* battery because there was simply no evidence for harsher battery charge. Thousands of people got beaten up worse than the Lakeland victim in the past and it was still just a *misdemeanor* battery. The doctors said from day 1 she should fully recover.
2) Opposite in the sense that they kicked her *OUT* of the house, not “lured” her into the house.
3) Prosecution just dropped the charges; they were entirely innocent. They also dropped charges against Cara Murphy, who is guilty morally for not doing more to stop the beating, but even according to the testimony from the victim she did NOT help with the beating in any way. And no she was NOT the camera girl — do not trust what the media tell you.
4) Yes, the concussion was evidently serious. The point is those stupid girls probably did NOT realise the victim suffered a concussion. Only Hardcastle and the victim knew how hard Hardcastle is hitting her. Stupid girls like them go by superficial signs of how bad someone is beaten. Look at the released picture of the victim taken about an hour after the beating — I’ve seen middle school kids who looked worse after a beating. The operative word is *looked* — you do not spot every concussion easily, at least not if you’re a stupid teenage girl.
June 16, 2008 at 12:08 AM
1) OK – I understand better now.
2) That’s not really relevant.
3) I’ll give you the boys, but Murphy should still be charged with conspiracy to commit.
4) I don’t care if they did or didn’t spot a concussion – the maximum punishment should be given (not only in this case, but in 95% of cases).
June 19, 2008 at 8:16 PM
2) It is relevant in that law enforcement lied and they should not be trusted on anything else on this unless they produce evidence.
3) There was no conspiracy and Murphy had no clue therewould be any beating — she was at Copper’s place when Cooper was invited over so Cara just tagged along. That’s all.
4) You mean life in prison? As far as I know, there has never been a girl in Florida who spent a single day in jail for what boils down to *misdemeanor* battery. Girls routinely get probation for far more violent offenses.
Any of the girls goes to jail, not to mention prison, and it’s clear the judge just caved in to political and public pressure. And I would not mind if Hardastle does some time in jail. It’s just even she, by Florida standards, should just get probation — unless we demand different rules for her.
June 20, 2008 at 12:39 AM
2) I don’t think they lied. I think they made a mistake when looking at the video, but they should have to produce evidence at the trial anyway – whether they’ve been honest in the past or not.
3) She was there and didn’t try to stop it. I think she knew what was going to happen and I think she could be charged with conspiracy. If she’s innocent, that’ll show in a trial.
4) I don’t care what’s routine. Like I said, punishments should be harsher most of the time, not just in this case, but in almost all cases.
June 20, 2008 at 8:02 PM
2) Law enforcement lied because theylied about what the VICTIM said under oath. They probably lied much more as well.
3) The point is, the evidence shows she had no clue. That’s one of the reasons whe was let go.
Yes, she failed to stop the beating. Adults in Florida made laws that say that’s legally OK. If people are so outraged by how this “white trash” child behaved, why is there no outrage at rich adult legislators who made the laws? Can you spell hypocrisy?
4) OK, question is, why start here, why these girls. Start by publicly demanding maximum punishment when your child does something wrong, not when TV networks make lots of money by showing you what some kids in Florida did wrong. Judges have no right to discriminate against children because they got on TV, but in reality they do, the Florida case proved it already.
June 20, 2008 at 10:49 PM
2) Again – they should’ve looked at the evidence harder. I’ll agree with you here.
3) My feelings are that she could’ve been charged with conspiracy. Perhaps I’m a little too prosecution happy, but that’s how I feel.
4) If you read past posts, you’ll realize that I don’t want to start here. I would’ve started years ago. But if it takes something like this to start handing out harsher punishments, I’m ok with that, but I have always been and always will be a supporter of harsh punishments.
June 25, 2008 at 12:23 AM
Yet again, what the girls did was awful. In this scenario, they are older, which does come into play. Still, what these girls need is NOT life in prison. They need lots of counseling and perhaps some behavioral therapy. In addition, the county should actually act on this occasion and work to reduce violence by making help and counseling more readily available.
June 26, 2008 at 1:50 PM
okay. you guys are all fucking stupid.
the girls that beat the cheerleader up are obviously jealous.
theyre retarded enough to make a video of it and put it on the internet as if the other girls’ parents werent going to see it…
theyre fucking pussys and thats all there is to it
June 27, 2008 at 6:26 PM
They didn’t put the video on the Internet and there is no real evidence so far that they actually intended to put it on the Internet — only evidence to the contrary. Also, the main reason for the beating is reportedly that the victim threathened most of them repeatedly.
June 27, 2008 at 7:26 PM
Threatening somebody doesn’t warrant a preemptive beating. If it were self defense, I’d have no problem with it.
June 28, 2008 at 10:40 AM
Of course they had absolutely no right to beat her. I was merely reacting to the suggestion here that this was just a matter of jealousy. Much more was going on.
August 8, 2008 at 12:16 AM
funny how everyone is saying awwwwwww they”re young they need therapy and you same phonies will say a minority needs life in prison, or give them the chair. what is it because they are cheerleaders? or is it because all of you know in juvi they are going to learn what its really like to get your ass whooped. and not even be jumped. if any of them had any hand skills at all they wouldnt have needed to jump anyone at any time. and irregardless of what the victim may or may not have said. SHE DIDNT PUT HER HANDS ON ANYONE!!!!!!!
September 21, 2008 at 12:51 AM
I am so ashamed of these girls, BUT most of all this falls back on the parenting. Where were the parents when all of this was taking place? When did you teach your childern to what goes around comes around no matter how long it takes. These childern should learn thier lesson. I believe that if they were adult enough to beat someone then they need to be treated like an adult and sit in prison no matter how old they are. What is wrong with the justice system these days? Come on people pull your head out and realize the world is becoming a shit hole because the parents cant spank thier kids and dicipline them. NOT BEAT THEM.. Discipline them. BIG DIFFERENCE to you wonderful people that throw CPS in the air. There was no evidence about the young teenage boys in the video. But all 8 should be prosecuted and serve jail time and give a PUBLIC APPOLOGY to her parents.
September 26, 2008 at 12:47 AM
over reacting
if the story was told differently you wouldn’t react the same way
life in prison is too much
I’m not saying that no punishment is needed
I am not the one to decide the punishment and neither are you
they are not the worst girls, just the ones that got the most attention
making a video was not a good decision, i know
neither was beating her
not calling anyone names
don’t call me a retard for having an opinion, you have one too
i am sure many people would like to read your opinions, but not me
not trying to be close minded i just have a problem talking to close minded people
you know who you are
everyone else knows who they are
September 26, 2008 at 12:55 AM
I push for maximum (or close to it) punishments for 95%+ criminals, not just these girls.
If you don’t like reading my opinions, then don’t. It’s just that simple.
December 4, 2008 at 5:59 PM
yeah, blame the internet and tv for dumbass behavior… how about bad parenting?
February 16, 2009 at 1:31 PM
I wouldn’t mind nailing a couple of them when they get a bit older.
January 23, 2010 at 8:05 PM
Very nice post I enjoy your site carry on the good posts
February 8, 2010 at 2:00 AM
Nobody blames the school. What are they teaching these girls in school about how to work out their problems?
March 11, 2010 at 3:51 AM
Whoa there captain. I too agree they should do considerable jail time – at this age they are surely on the path to much more serious problematic behavior in the future. However they are 16… Few years in the slammer auta teach em
March 11, 2010 at 4:18 AM
… or ruin their lives…