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Eight Teens Arrested for Beating of Cheerleader Victoria Lindsay
By Ann Turner

Apr 8, 2008

Eight teenagers have been arrested in the videotaped beating of 16 year-old cheerleader Victoria Lindsay in Lakeland, Florida. 

Six girls between the ages of 14 and 18 are accused of viciously beating Lindsay at the home of former friend Mercades Nichols while two boys served as lookouts. Lindsay was severely injured in the beating and may have been left with permanently damaged vision and hearing from the attack. 

According to the Polk County Sheriff's Office, Lindsay was lured to the home of Mercades Nichols on March 30 with a phone call. When Lindsay arrived at the house, she was beaten viciously in a well-coordinated, planned attack. One of the girl's mothers said Lindsay threatened and insulted the six girls involved in the attack on MySpace shortly before the incident, according to CBSNews.com.  

In a cell phone video of the attack released by the Polk County Sheriff's office, the teenage girls can be seen hitting Lindsay repeatedly and slamming her into a wall. One of the girls allegedly hit Lindsay so hard, she was knocked unconscious. When she came to, the teenage girls held her down and began beating her again, blocking the door so she could not leave.

"That is animalistic behavior," Sheriff Grady Judd said. "They lured her there to beat her."  

The girls who attacked Lindsay planned to post the video of the beating on MySpace and YouTube, according to police. One girl in the video can be heard yelling, "There's only 17 seconds left; make it good!" 

After the beating, Lindsay was forced into a car and driven to another location, where police said she was threatened with an even worse beating if she said anything to the authorities.  

Lindsay's mother, in an appearance on CBS News' The Early Show, said "there was talk about apparently after the fact, apparently there's other students that knew they were going to post this just for the thrill of everyone to see it."  

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd called the attack "shocking", saying he had "never seen anything like it… They seem to have absolutely no remorse at all. I don't understand the sheer violence."  

Lindsay was transported by ambulance to a local hospital following the attack. She suffered from a concussion, facial contusions and numerous bruises. Local6.com reports Lindsay cannot see out of one eye and has suffered hearing loss in one ear. It is unknown at this time if the injuries are permanent.  

Lindsay's father, Patrick, said that when he saw her after the attack, "I didn't recognize my own daughter when I went in. She was disfigured," according to NECN.com.  

The six girls involved in the attack and two boys who stood watching as lookouts were arrested and charged with felony battery and false imprisonment. The teenagers arrested are Nichols, April Cooper, 14,  Brittni Hardcastle, 17, Kayla Hassell, 15, Brittany Mayes, 17, Cara Murphy, 16, Zachary Ashley, 17, and Stephen Schumaker, 18.  

Nichols, Hardcastle and Mayes have also been charged with felony kidnapping for forcing Lindsay into a car and transporting her elsewhere. All but one still remain in juvenile custody; one was charged as an adult and has been released on bail.