News

Actions

Parent: 6-girl brawl could have been prevented

Posted at 10:47 PM, May 05, 2016
and last updated 2016-05-05 23:21:30-04
A parent of a Ridgewood High School student says the school didn't do enough to stop a fight involving her daughter.
 
The fight happened last Tuesday and involved 6 female students.
 
Kimberly Santiago says her daughter called her more than an hour before the fight saying some students planned to jump her and Santiago's niece, Latavia Starling, an 18-year-old senior.
 
"I had called her counselor and was like, 'Can you all call her to the office, you know, to stop this from happening.'" Santiago said. "All of this could have been prevented if she would have went and found my daughter as soon as I told her."
 
Two cell phone videos of the fight have now made their rounds on social media. 
 
They show a girl being grabbed by an adult woman. She pulls her arm away, walks around and then attacks another student. 
 
Santiago's daughter is seen running into the video. She throws several punches. Her mother says it was an attempt to protect her friend. 
 
Latavia Starling also says she contacted administrators before the fight. She says she was being escorted by one staff member when they walked up on the brawl. She ran into the fray to break it up and says she was punched by a student. In the video, you see an adult man tackle her to the ground. She says the student who hit her continued to fight her while she was on the ground.
 
"She crawled over on top of me, that's when a fought back." Starling said.
 
Starling was arrested and charged with battery, she's claiming self defense. The arrest report says she was warned not to get into a fight by the school prior to the incident. 
 
Starling has also been suspended for 10 days and will have to finish her senior year at another school.
 
Her cousin has also been suspended.
 
"They (the school) need to get a better system or something." Santiago said.
 
Pasco Schools refused to comment about the allegations from Santiago, saying they don't discuss punishment of students.