Mother hires attorney after 13-year-old daughter attacked at Miami Gardens school

School officials claim bullying wasn't reported by student

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – A mother is outraged after cellphone video was captured of her daughter being attacked at a Miami Gardens middle school.

The video begins with a group of students. One girl walks away, and then chaos breaks out in the blink of an eye.

The mother of the 13-year-old who was attacked and dragged around on the ground said she saw the video online and couldn't believe it.

Bestma Mobley said she’s scared for her daughter, who attends Andover Middle School.

Mobley hired an attorney after seeing what happened Wednesday, insisting she had tried to resolve the bullying issues before with the school.

"I continued always going to that school, complaining about kids bullying my daughter," Mobley said. "I'm afraid something will happen to my daughter or one of these kids in that school."

Attorney Brett Schlacter said he's horrified that so many people watched and recorded the attack. 

Several students Local 10 News reporter Andrew Perez spoke with said the fight was over social media and gossip.

A Miami-Dade County Public Schools spokeswoman said in a statement there were no reports filed that the teen had been bullied. 

"Miami-Dade County Public Schools takes allegations of bullying seriously and provides students and staff with many resources to aid them in reporting suspected cases," the statement read. "Bullying, specifically, is a pattern of unwanted behavior directed at a person. In this instance, bullying has not been reported."

The other girl in the video was disciplined, but Schlacter said the victim's family is seeking damages and looking to press charges.


About the Author:

Andrew Perez is a South Florida native who joined the Local 10 News team in May 2014.