Cops say mom entered school bus, got physical with 9-year-old, told her kid to beat up child; bullying reportedly an issue



Police in Georgia said a 28-year-old mother of four entered a school bus last week, made physical contact with a 9-year-old, and told her own kid to beat up another child.

What are the details?

Tenisha Barber told WSB-TV she was waiting for her child’s school bus to arrive when she saw Roshaunda Qualls get on the bus on Mount Zion Parkway in Clayton County last Thursday.

“She came up, and she got on the bus,” Barber added to the station.

Court documents say Qualls recklessly interfered with the operation of a school bus when she made intentional contact with the 9-year-old, WSB reported.

Barber told the station she doesn’t condone Qualls' actions but understands: “She was trying to defend her child 'cause her child was getting bullied."

However, another parent said Qualls’ child was doing the bullying, WSB reported.

A judge ordered Qualls and her child to stay away from the other child, the station said: “You’re not to enter a Clayton County school bus, particularly bus number 36."

One woman remarked to WSB: “It’s just crazy. Things are just getting more and more out of hand.”

New charges

Police arrested Qualls again after she bonded out on the initial charges, WSB reported in a separate story.

Officers said Qualls, 28, encouraged her child to beat another child on the bus, the station said, adding that the judge said Qualls used abusive language and attempted to strike a child with her right hand.

Police told WSB Qualls entered the school bus outside the Carrington Park apartments near Jonesboro and caused mayhem.

Now Qualls faces a charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor in addition to her initial charges of battery, third-degree child cruelty, and disrupting the operation of a public school, the station said.

“When another child has been instigated by their parent to fight, I think that’s wrong because it’s not Christian-like,” one woman told WSB.

But the station added that Qualls’ attorney, Dennis Scheib, said during a hearing that the incident "wasn’t something [Qualls] started."

“She sees everybody fighting, and the door was closed," Scheib said, according to WSB. "So she got on there, and it was a mess."

After her first arrest last Thursday, Qualls — a mother of four — was released on a $7,000 bond, the station said. Following her second arrest, WSB said her attorney asked the judge for a $5,000 bond, but the judge set the bond at $10,000.

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Woman, 67, and her adult daughter storm into middle school to confront relative's bullies, end up beating 3 students — none of whom bullied their relative



A woman and her adult daughter stormed into a South Carolina middle school Wednesday to confront students they believed were bullying their relative — and the duo ended up beating three students, none of whom bullied their relative.

Mamie Smith, 67, and her daughter Whitney Smith, 32, were jailed on charges of third-degree assault by mob and disturbing schools, the State reported. They both live on Goshen Road in Sumter, the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office said.

What are the details?

The women went to Ebenezer Middle School in Dalzell and buzzed at the front entrance — then told school staff they needed to go to the attendance office, the State said, citing the sheriff’s office.

Once inside, the pair then ran down a hallway and pushed a female student against a wall, hitting and scratching her face and head, the paper said.

Around 2:30 p.m. the school’s resource officer called the sheriff’s office for backup regarding a fight in progress, the State said, adding that another student also was pushed and hit, and a third student also was assaulted before authorities were able to detain the mother and daughter.

Emergency services took one of the students to a hospital; the other two students were released to their parents — one of them for the purposes of medical treatment, the paper said. Information on their conditions wasn't available, the State said.

Oops!

Not only did the women make a big mistake by entering a school and physically attacking students — but also, none of the students they attacked were bullying their relative.

“Our investigation showed that the students who were viciously attacked were not even the students who these subjects believed had bullied their family member,” Sheriff Anthony Dennis said, according to the State. “The fact is, the students who were reported as bullying these [women’s] family member [were] actually in the office being dealt with when this attack took place.”

What happened to the accused attackers?

Both Smiths were taken to the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office Detention Center where they were awaiting a bond hearing sometime Thursday, the paper said, citing the sheriff’s office.

If convicted on the third-degree assault by mob charge, they each face a maximum sentence of a year in prison; a conviction on the disturbing schools charge — a misdemeanor — is punishable by a maximum of 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine, the State said, citing South Carolina law.

“This type of behavior is criminal and should never be considered ... the appropriate way to deal with matters,” Dennis added, according to the paper.