The teen who body-slammed an elderly woman onto a concrete deck and dragged her into the pool at a pool party in Florida over the weekend is facing battery charges and has been placed on home detention. He will still be allowed to attend school, church, and basketball practice.
The assault was captured on video last week and is hard to watch. It shows a woman walking her two dogs and as she stops to have a discussion with some of the pool partygoers, someone in the background repeatedly yells, “Throw her in!”
The 16-year-old suspect then jumps in front of the woman, picks her up, and slams her down hard, falling on the pavement with her. One of the partygoers claimed in an interview that the suspect did not mean to body-slam the woman, but instead accidentally slipped when he picked her up. But the suspect continued the assault by getting up, grabbing her by the shirt and dragging her into the pool, falling in himself while partygoers scattered, screaming and laughing. The woman’s terrified dogs managed to escape the dunking.
https://youtu.be/OvlbBp84MLU
The victim, Nancy James, is a member of the Players Place Homeowners Association and was confronting the attendees at the “unauthorized pool party” in an effort to get them to quiet down after several complaints. James was already not in the best of health. She was recovering from a broken hip and had survived three strokes, NBC 6 reported. The woman was completely defenseless.
Via The Smoking Gun:
James … was “frightened and upset and sustained injuries to her leg and shoulder as a result of the incident,” according to the sheriff’s report. James, who suffered large bruises on her shoulder and leg, was treated Sunday at a local hospital.
Investigators quickly identified … the culprit and he reportedly confessed to the crime in the presence of his mother and his lawyer. “I messed up and I have to own up to it,” the report quotes [the suspect] as saying. [His] mother, Shekita Johnson, provided cops with the red Champion shirt her son was wearing when he attacked James.
During a court appearance yesterday, a judge placed [the suspect] on home detention, though the teen is allowed to attend school, church, and basketball practice for his travel team.
James spoke to NBC 6 Miami on Tuesday: “It was a very cruel thing that that kid did,” James said. “I was freaking out when that kid had lifted me up. It was scary. It was definitely scary because I’m not used to that.”
James was still sporting bruises on her arm and legs days after Saturday’s incident at the pool party at the Players Place Townhomes on Champions Way in North Lauderdale.
James was walking with her two dogs when she approached partygoers to try to get them to turn their music down. The video posted on social media showed a group gather around her as someone is heard saying “throw her in” in the background.
That’s when the teen picks James off the ground and they both fall to the ground. The teen then gets up, grabs James and throws her into the pool while falling in himself.
“When I went in there I wasn’t worried about anything, but I guess I walked in to a group of people that just hadn’t evolved yet, but that’s all I can say and they just have to learn to grow up and join society the way that they should,” James said.
James said her poor dogs are still scared.
https://youtu.be/68CbmosRh5U
The teen’s attorney said, “He’s a good student.”
“He seems to be very remorseful of the situation. I think he looks forward for the opportunity to address the individual face-to-face and apologize for the incident that’s taken place,” attorney Paul Molle said. “As the circumstances unfold it’ll come out that he’s a good young man who has a bright future, is willing to accept responsibility for what’s taken place, and is very apologetic.”
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