Background: A Target store location in Homestead, Fla. (Google Maps). Inset: Martha Juliana Mendoza (Miami-Dade County Corrections and Rehabilitation).
A Florida mother has been arrested following allegations of assaulting her daughter over a trip to Target with a friend, law enforcement officials have reported.
Martha Juliana Mendoza, 43, is currently detained and faces charges including child abuse, battery by strangulation, and aggravated assault. The charges stem from an incident reported by her daughter on Wednesday night. According to an arrest report reviewed by Law&Crime, the daughter, whose age has not been disclosed, contacted the police claiming that her mother had assaulted her. The daughter stated she visited Target with a friend earlier that day, and upon returning home, Mendoza allegedly “grabbed her by her hair” and “began hitting her head against the wall.”
Police noted in the arrest report that the daughter exhibited “visible redness to her face” when they responded to Mendoza’s residence in Homestead, Florida, late Wednesday night. The daughter explained she had informed her mother via text about her plans to go to Target with a friend. While out, Mendoza reportedly “was texting her the whole time,” demanding to know her whereabouts and insisting she return home.
Upon the daughter’s return, Mendoza allegedly “grabbed her by her hair” and forcibly pulled her inside, accusing her of being “disrespectful.” The daughter claimed that after the initial assault at the front door, Mendoza dragged her into the kitchen where she “sat on her chest” to the extent that she “could not breathe.” In self-defense, the daughter said she pulled her mother’s hair to free herself.
The situation reportedly escalated when Mendoza attempted to strike her daughter with a mop, prompting the daughter to retaliate by grabbing her mother’s hair once more.
In a turn of events, Mendoza herself called 911 to report the altercation with her daughter, according to police.
When police arrived and read Mendoza her rights, she agreed to speak without a lawyer present. Mendoza told police that when her daughter told her she was going to Target, she told her she could not go, but she “still went anyways.” In a text message, she told her daughter to bring her friend into the house so she could meet them, but she did not do that.
Mendoza told police that when her daughter returned home, she admitted to grabbing the girl’s hair after she came into the home “because she was laughing.” Police said Mendoza denied sitting on her daughter’s chest, but admitted to sitting on top of her during their physical altercation. She also denied that she hit her daughter with the mop. According to the arrest report, Mendoza said her daughter was “screaming and yelling and cursing at her.”
Both Mendoza and her daughter refused medical attention. The daughter chose to stay at the home with her maternal grandmother. Police said the Florida Department of Children and Families was contacted in connection with the incident.
Mendoza was arrested and charged with battery by strangulation, child abuse, and aggravated assault. She remains in custody at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center; her bond has not been set. Her next court date was not available.
