ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – A group of students from Wekiva High School now face charges following a widely circulated video of an attack at a bus stop last month, according to the Ocoee Police Department.
Authorities reported receiving a call to a residence on Plumberry Avenue around 7 a.m. on April 23, shortly after the incident took place.
The victim’s mother informed police that her 16-year-old son was assaulted by approximately 10 individuals as he disembarked from a school bus near their Ocoee home.
“The video submitted as evidence lasts about 30 seconds, showing the victim on the ground being punched and kicked by a group of 11 males,” an officer described. “The victim was in a fetal position, shielding his head with his hands while the assailants shouted and launched an aggressive attack. During the incident, one person is seen taking shoes that had fallen off the victim’s feet.”
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The victim later informed police that he was involved in a dispute, or “beef,” with another student named Jerone, who also attends Wekiva High School.
Earlier in the day, Jerone reportedly told the victim that he would be “seeing him later,” and once the victim had gotten on the school bus, other students were saying, “They are going to get you,” police said.
After getting off the bus, Jerone allegedly “squared up” at the victim, officers added.
“So (the victim swung at Jerone to prevent Jerone from hitting him first,” the affidavit reads. “(The victim) said they tussled for a few seconds, and as (the victim) was trying to walk away, multiple boys ran out of the vehicles that had followed the school bus and attacked him.”
The victim was eventually knocked unconscious, so he didn’t remember what happened next, though he believed that the crowd of boys had “jumped” him as part of an orchestrated attack, police explained.
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According to investigators, the teen victim suffered abrasions on his shoulders, scratches on his back and swelling on both eyes. He was also taken to the hospital by his mother.
Meanwhile, video of the attack apparently began circulating among students at Wekiva High School, and school administrators were able to identify the attackers as students, officers revealed.
Police identified several students in the video as follows:
Jerone Terrill Hill, Jr., 18
Isaiah Jamari McNish, 18
Josiah Xavier Watson-Greer, 18
Thomas C. Jones, 18
Sandy Rejah Zay King, 18
Jakarri Markez Bellamy, 18
Travon Keasean Laster, 18
“It should be noted that Orange County Public Schools Police and SROS have been monitoring the incident closely due to threats of retaliatory incidents based on previous issues involving the same individuals,” the affidavit continues.
Many of the students now face charges of battery and rioting with injury, though Laster also faces a charge of grand theft.
