Mom Of Suspect In McDonald’s Beating Of Teen: ‘I Didn’t Raise Her Like This, Don’t Know Why She Did It’

The mother of a teen girl arrested in the Brooklyn, New York, McDonald’s beating of another girl — a savage attack caught on a video which went widely viral Wednesday — says that she refuses to defend her daughter and does not know why she took part in the horrific attack, recorded by bystanders who did nothing to intervene but nonetheless recorded the violent brawl on cell phones.

But neighbors of 16-year-old Aniah Ferguson, who is seen in the video stomping on the head of her helpless victim, told the New York Daily News that the girl suffers from violent and frightening behavioral issues.

As reported Wednesday by the Inquisitr, the victim initially was believed to have avoided going to the hospital, but later reports said that in fact she did spend the night in a hospital after the fight and the returned on Wednesday after collapsing due to her injuries.

According to the New York Post, she was persuaded to see a doctor for her injuries by a school official.

Police took Ferguson into custody Thursday — reportedly her 11th arrest and seventh since she turned 16 in July of 2014.

In the video, viewable above [Warning: contains disturbing, violent images] Ferguson is seen throwing roundhouse punches at the victim. Even after the victim manages to grab her top and pull it off, Ferguson is seen continuing the brutal attack, clad above the waist only in a purple brassiere.

“I’m her mother and I’m not defending her,” her mom told the Daily News. “I didn’t raise her like this. I don’t know why she did it.”

But others who know Ferguson say the behavior is not unusual for the troubled teen, who they say has a one-year-old daughter of her own.

“This is a sick child — and she really really needs help,” one longtime friend of the Ferguson family told the News. “She’s been in jail, they release her. She’s been in jail, they release her. She’s been in jail, they release her. Why are you releasing her?”

Ferguson’s latest arrest prior to Thursday came on February 3 for allegedly stabbing her own brother in the arm. In another upsetting incident, neighbors recalled one Ferguson family member fleeing their home, fearing that the girl was about to set fire to the place.

She has also previously been charged with assaulting her 64-year-old grandmother and attacking a police officer.

The victim of the Monday afternoon McDonald’s beating, identified as Ariana Taylor, 15, was released from the hospital Thursday. She also cooperated with police investigating the attack, after refusing to do so for three days, police said.

“Her face looked like a punching bag,” one police source told the News. “Her nose was broken and she didn’t even know it.”

The teen arrested in connection with the McDonald’s beating now faces a range of charges, including assault as part of a gang.

[Image: YouTube Screen Grab]