8 Teenagers have been arrested and charged as adults in the brutal, animalistic beating of Victoria “Tori” Lindsay. See some of the court proceedings here. They have now all been released on bail ranging between $30,000 and $37,000 and placed under house arrest.

The parents of Victoria Lindsay, Talisa and Patrick Lindsay, speak out about the beating of their daughter:

One of the girls, Mercades Nichols, who is accused of being the ringleader of the group assault was bailed out of jail by people associated with Dr. Phil.

This was obviously an attempt by the show to have exclusive rights to the Mercades Nichols’ story and have her on the show as a guest. After receiving a lot of negative feedback they decided to cancel those plans. In an attempt at damage control Dr. Phil issued the following statement:

“We have helped guests and potential guests in the past when they need financial assistance to come on the show – assisting with clothing allowance, lost wages, accommodations, travel and necessities. In this case, certain staff members went beyond our guidelines (re: the bail being paid). These staff members have been spoken to and our policies reiterated. In addition, we have decided not to go forward with the story as our guidelines have been compromised.”

A Polk County judge, J. Michael McCarthy, issued a gag order in the case after parents of some of the teens and Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd appeared on national TV shows discussing the case this week.

In the meantime Victoria Lindsay is recovering slowly from the injuries she sustained in the vicious beating at her friend’s house. She suffered a concussion and, even though more than a week has passed since the attack, has not fully regained her hearing and vision on her left side. However, as the swelling subsides, doctors hope those will return. According to her parents, Victoria will not return to Mulberry High school.

                     pictures from the court hearing

So much has been said about this case, but to me, the worst came from a parent of an accused:

Eighteen-year-old Stephen Schumaker’s father turned his anger to Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, who decided to release the video and is now under a gag order by the court.

“Grady Judd, our great sheriff, he made a mountain out of a molehill with all these trumped up charges for these kids,” he said.

This parent is in denial of what happened to the victim. He probably believes she deserved the permanent, lifelong damages that happened to her. But if his child was hurt this way, boy would it be a different story! And now, Dr. Phil has thrown himself into this. It will only get worse from here.

Bondsman: Dr. Phil Posted Bond For Teen Accused Of Ringleading Videotaped Beating
Six Teen Suspects In Videotaped Beating Out of Jail
Bondsman: Dr. Phil Bonds The Ringleader
Gag order issued in teen beating case
Classmates react: They are not bullies!
Florida teen girls beat up friend in hopes of views on Youtube

Victoria “Tori” Lindsey,16, a senior at Mulberry High School, said she learned a lesson about betrayal and friendship after receiving a severe beating at the hands of her “friends”. The incident was recorded and placed on the video-sharing site Youtube. Six girls, one boy and a young man were arrested on charges of felony battery and false imprisonment.

Arrested are: Mercades Nichols, 17, Brittini Hardcastle, 17, and Britney Mayes, 17, facing charges of felonious battery, false imprisonment and kidnapping in connection with the attack. Cara Murphy, 16, Kayla Hassell, 15, April Cooper, 14, Zachary Ashley, 17, and Stephen Schumaker, 18, facing charges of felonious battery and false imprisonment.

The girl’s mother, Talisa Lindsay, said it was painful to watch the video, which a Polk County sheriff’s detective brought to their home days after the attack so Tori could identify the girls involved. Click on the image below to see the video.

“When you see your daughter who is not striking back to defend herself and someone keeps coming at you like that, it’s a horrible thing,” the girl’s mother said. “I just don’t understand it.”

Tori’s father said he didn’t recognize his daughter in the emergency room. “I’ve never seen anyone’s face disfigured like that,”he said. The teens arrested and accused of participating in the videotaped beating engaged in “animalistic behavior,” Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said in a press conference. “It’s pack mentality,” he said. “They lured her there to beat her.” According to the Sheriff’s Office, Tori Lindsey was having problems at home and was staying with a friend, Nichols, in Lakeland. On March 30 about 8:30 p.m., Tori arrived at Nichols’ house on West Calendar Court and was greeted by Nichols and another girl. She went into the bedroom where she was staying, and a third girl, April Cooper, 14, began to insult and threaten her, then hit her in the face several times and slammed her head into a wall, knocking her unconscious.

When Tori awoke, she was on the living-room couch surrounded by six girls who took turns hitting and kicking her while the beating was videotaped. She told investigators that the six blocked the door, held her down and beat her for a half-hour. Sometime during the attack, her left ear and eye were injured. While this was going on, two boys, both teenagers acted as lookouts. Tori told investigators that Schumaker and Ashley knocked on the front door and warned the girls they were making so much noise that neighbors were wondering what was going on.“I could be facing a year and a day in jail for something I didn’t do,” Schumaker said. After the beating, three of the girls drove her to another friend’s house, where they told her, “If you go to the police, the next beating will be worse.” Tori Lindsay has bruises, a concussion and damage to her left ear and eye, although her family said she is expected to recover.

The family would like a public apology from the girls, and they also want a law to protect kids on video and social-networking Web sites. Tori plans to continue her schooling at home rather than return to Mulberry High.

Mary Nichols, the grandmother of one of the girls who was arrested, says her family is suffering, too. The beating is alleged to have happened at Nichols’ house while she was at work. Since the sheriff’s office released the video this week, Nichols said, she has been receiving threatening, obscenity-laced telephone calls, and someone scratched her car.

“This is definitely traumatic to everyone, not just to Tori’s family,” Nichols said.

A Polk County judge issued a gag order in the case, after parents of some of the teens and Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd appeared on national TV shows discussing the case. Meanwhile, a central Florida couple, Darlene and Jerry Ashley, claim they are being hounded by angry callers who mistakenly think they’re connected to the notorious videotaped beating of the girl. Their phone number was mistakenly posted by a user of the YouTube video-sharing Web site, along with the numbers of the other teens charged in the beating. Callers think the Lakeland couple are the parents of one of the teen boys involved who has the same last name. They say they have gotten around 300 angry, abusive calls from all over the country.

Mercades Nichols, 17, remains in the Polk Regional Juvenile Detention Center in Bartow along with the six other minors who were arrested in the case. Schumaker, 18, was released from the Polk County Jail on bail.

Florida teens charged in beating to be tried as adults www.privateofficer.com

Polk County Fla. April 10 2008

BREAKING NEWS

Prosecutors in Polk County Florida today, just a short time ago, decided to charge all seven Polk County teenagers – accused of pummeling a 16-year-old and videotaping it for YouTube and MySpace – as adults. The prosecutors say that the savage way that the teens beat the 16 year old girl and the fact that all of those arrested acted cohesively in concert in the crimes justifiys such action.

The other consideration was the fact the 16 year old victim was forced into a vehicle and taken to another location during her ordeal which prompted deputies to charge several of the teens with much more offenses including kidnapping.

The eighth teen involved is 18 years old and is already considered an adult under the law.

All eight teenagers now face charges of battery and kidnapping, which is punishable of up to life in prison. Three face an additional charge of tampering with a witness, which holds up to a 5-year prison term.

Polk County officials identified the teens involved as Mercades Nichols, 17; April Cooper, 14; Brittni Hardcastle, 17; Kayla Hassell, 15; Brittany Mayes, 17; Cara Murphy, 16; Zachary Ashley, 17; and Stephen Schumaker, 18. All are from Lakeland except Hassell, who is from Mulberry. Schumaker and Ashley served as lookouts during the beating, authorities said.

The teens’ first appearance in adult court is scheduled for Friday at 1 p.m.

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This is going to make some of you angry… really angry. You might even leave comments telling me what an idiot I am and how I’m not being fair. I understand that some of you may misunderstand my intentions and think I’m here to excuse the atrocious behaviour of the Lakeland teens who beat Victoria Lindsay to the point of unconsciousness and then damage to her hearing and her sight, so I’ll stop you now.  I’m not doing so at all.

I do believe these teens should be treated as adults in the eyes of the law, and I do believe each one of them knew better. What I’m going to add though, will make some of you angry with me, and that is my unwavering opinion that many, many parents these days have failed at the job of being a parent.

Please feel welcome to comment on this post… but do read the rest first.

Oh sure, there are cases where you see a parent who has broken their proverbial back trying to do the right thing with and for their child only to have the child grow older and do everything contrary to how they’ve been raised. There are exceptions to every rule indeed. I’m not talking about those cases. I’m talking about cases like that of Mercades Nichols, one of the Lakeland teens who took part in the attack.

Today, the media has embraced Mercades’ mother as being a bit of a “good guy” for as one report put it, ‘rapping her daughter for the attack’.

Happening upon that article, I was pleased to see a parent apparently standing up for what’s right instead of trying to shield their child from accepting responsibility for their actions, and so I went searching for more.

Over at another site, I found this:

“Nichols’ mother Christina Garcia went onto NBC’s Today Show and said she was in disgust after how her daughter handled the situation. Garcia said Nichols should have called the police immediately.”

Honestly I was pleased. I was almost ready to declare Garcia a Saint and the example for my generation… a generation that sadly, has chosen to place more importance on being their child’s “friend” and the “cool parent” over bringing up their children to be a productive member of the society that will ultimately have to care for my failure of a generation in our old age.

And then I visited YouTube.

As I watched yet another tape that included the beatings, I was astounded to hear the same Garcia quoted as the righteously inclined parent, claim that the victim herself, was responsible for the beatings. You see, according to the video news report available at WSLS10, the beating was in response to comments Victoria made online, comments the other girls apparently decided she deserved to be beaten for. Garcia, in the news report, states,

“I just don’t see why she’d do that, if she didn’t have the nerve to back up what she was saying..”

So it seems that while she did go on the Today show to state that her daugher (Nichols) should’ve called the police, that seems to me, like a mom whose real opinion is that her daughter is blameless, is trying her darndest to make sure public opinion of her and her daughter, is that of the “good folk” in the whole mess.

Listen to Garcia’s statements yourself… they begin at 1:04 seconds into the tape, now available on YouTube.

Over at the Today website, Garcia is further quoted saying, “Mercades, my daughter, warned this girl before she came into the house,” Garcia said. She said her daughter told the victim, “The two girls that you have been running your mouth about and threatening on MySpace are in the house. Please do not go in the house.”

Despite having seen the tape herself, and despite knowing the injuries Lindsay has suffered, Garcia still had the nerve to state that the incident is being overblown by (Sheriff) Judd.

It seems crystal clear that Mercades Nichol knew what would happen to Victoria Lindsay in the house, yet facilitated bringing her to it. In my book, a warning not to go in just doesn’t cut it. Lindsay was staying with Nichols following family differences and Nichols should have realized that her pathetic warning was just not enough. Where should Lindsay have gone then? And why, in the first place, would Nichols invite those very girls to her own grandmother’s house if she wasn’t a willing participant in what would happen next?

Yet, when we see Nichols’ own mother on national television speaking from one side of her mouth, that her daughter is in the wrong while from the other side of the mouth she’s blaming the victim, it’s easy to see where Nichols gets the ability to reason with herself that she, while betraying Lindsay by offering her a place to stay and then bringing to that place, a group of girls she knew would beat her, can simply absolve herself of responsibility by telling her not to go into the house.

Like mother, like daughter.

Christina Garcia. Epitome of a generation far too little concerned with doing what’s really right.

We can do better.

We must.

Please do feel welcome to leave your opinion about the parenting aspect of this issue here, and if you’d like to get in on another great discussion about the teens and our kids, there’s one already this one and this one going on over atlindas.

I do not understand teenagers these days and their need for violence amongst each other. It is bad enough that so many kill each other, but now they are beating up each other, needlessly and viciously just for a YouTube video. C’mon people! What has happened to morals and values? Are parents forgetting to instill these in their children now? These 6 girls lured the victim to the house and then beat the crap out of her. And for what? For teenage silliness. They say she posted stuff about them on MySpace. SO WHAT! Grow up. Beating her up so viciously that she cannot see properly out of one eye, can’t hear out of one hear and was unconscious. She also suffered a concussion and may be blind in one eye. I sure hope that the parents of these teens actually do something about it rather than blame the victim or say that their child could never do this. Just watch the video. Every single one of these girls were involved. They cannot pretend that they did not know or understand what was going on. I would be so ashamed to be one of their parents right now. And ashamed of my parenting skills and my relationship with my child if it were my child. This is not funny, nor is it entertainment. And each one of these teens needs to be punished, to the severest punishment allowed for this crime. I believe they will be tried as adults (the Sheriff’s Office has stated that is what they want to do, thank goodness!). Hopefully, justice will be served for Victoria. She did not deserve this.

Polk County Sheriff’s Office Press Release
8 Teens Charged With Attacking Girl for YouTube Video
The video of the attack
Girl Pummeled In 30 Min. ‘Animalistic’ Attack
Girls Record Brutal Attack On Teen To Allegedly Post On YouTube
Mulberry Cheerleader Recovering From Beating
8 Teens Arrested In Beating of Lakeland Girl

Our Message Boards Come and join the discussions!

  Zachary Ashley, April Cooper, Britney Mayes, Cara Murphy,
  Brittini Hardcastle, Kayla Hassell, Mercades Nichols, Stephen Schumaker

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

8 Teens charged with brutal attack on girl www.privateofficer.com

Polk County Fla. April 8 2008

By: Rick McCann

Ntl. Assoc. Private Officers

www.privateofficer.com

Looking at the video that a group of teens took of themselves savagely beating on a 16 year old girl brings only one thing to mind, pack animals and Sheriff Grady Judd agreed as he stated in his press release. “It’s pack mentality,” he said. “They lured her there to beat her.”

Sheriff investigators say that a group of six teenage girls and two boys, all of whom have now been rounded up and arrested are accussed of of participating in the videotaped beating engaged in “animalistic behavior Sheriff Judd said in a press conference Monday.

The video is shocking: A teenage girl is repeatedly beaten and taunted as other teenagers shout in the background. “Make this 17 seconds good,” one yells toward the video’s end.The eight teens arrested, pummeled the 16-year-old victim until she was bruised and had a concussion.

The 16-year-old was having problems at home and was staying with a friend, Mercades Nichols, 17, in Lakeland, according to the Sheriff’s Office.On March 30 about 8:30 p.m., the victim arrived at Nichols’ house on West Calendar Court and was greeted by Nichols and another girl.The victim went into the bedroom where she was staying, and a third girl, April Cooper, 14, began to insult and threaten her, then hit her in the face several times and slammed her head into a wall, knocking her unconscious, a sheriff’s report states.When the victim awoke, she was on the living-room couch surrounded by six girls who took turns hitting and kicking her while the beating was videotaped, records show. The girl told investigators that the six blocked the door, held her down and beat her for a half-hour. Sometime during the attack, her left ear and eye were injured, authorities said.Two teenage neighbors, both male, acted as lookouts, the Sheriff’s Office said.

After the beating, three of the girls drove the victim to another friend’s house, where they told her, “If you go to the police, the next beating will be worse,” the report states.Six girls, a boy and a young man were arrested Wednesday on charges of felony battery and false imprisonment.

They are Nichols, Cooper, Brittni Hardcastle, 17, Kayla Hassell, 15, Brittany Mayes, 17, Cara Murphy, 16, Zachary Ashley, 17, and Stephen Schumaker, 18. All are from Lakeland except Hassell, who is from Mulberry.Mayes, Hardcastle and Nichols also were arrested on charges of felony kidnapping for forcing the victim into the car and driving her to another location.

All the minors were taken to the Juvenile Assessment Center in Bartow and were still in custody late Monday, a sheriff’s spokeswoman said. Schumaker was released from the Polk County Jail on bail and, in a phone interview, denied being involved.

Schumaker said Monday that he was not a lookout. He told the Orlando Sentinel that he and Ashley were sitting on Ashley’s porch next door to Nichols’ house when he heard Nichols yelling at the victim. He said he went to get gas and was not present when the victim was beaten.According to the sheriff’s report, the victim told investigators that Schumaker and Ashley knocked on the front door and warned the girls they were making so much noise that neighbors were wondering what was going on.”I could be facing a year and a day in jail for something I didn’t do,” Schumaker said.

According to the victim, the girls bragged that they planned to post the beating on YouTube and MySpace.

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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 30^th, 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
:: :: :: :: ::

6 Tampa Area Skanks couldn’t wait a few more years to get their 15 minutes of fame from Milfhunter.com, so they lured a 16 year old girl to a house and started whaling on her while filming it for youtube and myspacetv.  Trailers shouldn’t be going digital; it always amazes me what happens when you give White Trash a camera.  Nice Mustache, Zachary Ashely, I hope it tickles the balls of whoever face rapes you in County Jail.

These future dropouts were upset because the victim was ‘talkin-trash’.  Shit, whenever ANYONE brings up your name Brittini Hardcastle, they are TALKING TRASH.  Hopefully you’ll spend enough time in prison, that you’ll be over eighteen when you shit out your first kid on the steps of the Waffle House.

Also, to keep this reporting accurate, the Mercades girl isn’t slutty.  She’s a heifer whose parents couldn’t even spell Mercedes properly.  She was mad that the victim ate all the dip.

You can read the full story and even check out the video, HERE.