‘Blood everywhere': 17-year-old speaks out after she was beaten in Miami Northwestern bathroom
A 17-year-old girl is speaking out after she was beaten and bloodied in a fight with a group of girls at a Miami high school.
The fight inside a Miami Northwestern High School restroom on Monday morning left Ariadna Sharpton hospitalized.
“I was gushing blood out my forehead. I couldn’t see,” the teen said Tuesday. “There was blood on my face, my eyes, my nose. There was blood everywhere.”
Cellphone video shows the confrontation that led up to the fight. According to a police report, the back and forth led to the altercation that left Sharpton bloodied and bruised. She has three stitches in her forehead and says her jaw and neck are still hurting.
“They started being disrespectful, and I got hit with a Stanley Cup and an instrument, a band instrument,” the teen said.
Her mother, Nicole Luster, said her daughter has epilepsy and that things could have ended much worse.
“It’s devastating. It’s devastating because it was multiple girls,” she said.
One student was arrested, and others were disciplined, Miami-Dade County Public Schools said. A 15-year-old sophomore appeared in bond court Tuesday and faces a third-degree felony battery charge. A judge placed her on home detention, and she is only allowed to go to school and then home.
With her mother’s permission, NBC6 spoke exclusively with the teen and another student involved. Both have been suspended for 10 days.
“She really was antagonizing us, so we had no other choice,” one of the teens said. “She kept trying to leave the situation alone, but she just wouldn’t let it go.”
“Self-defense. That’s the only thing I know. Somebody hit me, hit them back. So, I hit her back,” the other teen said.
The mother of one of the teens didn’t want to be identified but issued an apology to Sharpton’s mother:
“To the parents, I’m sorry that this happened. I just feel like bullying is not what it is,” she said.
Luster said an apology isn’t enough and is removing her daughter from the school.
“I have no words to say to you. I have no words to say to her,” Luster said.
Miami-Dade County Public Schools issued a statement that reads: “Miami-Dade County Public Schools is aware of a physical altercation that occurred [Monday] involving students from Miami Northwestern Senior High School. School administration and Miami-Dade Schools Police swiftly addressed the situation, resulting in an arrest. Additionally, the students involved are being disciplined according to the Code of Student Conduct.”
