Video Interview with Victoria Lindsay - Gang Beating Victim

Victoria Lindsay, the Lakeland, Florida, high school student and cheerleader who was allegedly ambushed and gang beaten by her fellow cheerleaders and classmates last March 30th, recently gave her first video interview since the beating.

ABC's Good Morning America interviewed Lindsay at length, and we have embedded the interview for you here. The alleged teen age perpetrators video taped the beating, which lasted for a half hour, so they could post the film on YouTube and MySpace.

Lindsay was allegedly beaten in two sequences by her so-called friends, and the Polk County, Florida, Sheriff's department released the film of the beating in two parts. The first film that was released by the Sheriff actually contains the latter part of the beating but has the highest quality of the two films, which may be why the Sheriff released that film first.

After Lindsay was ambushed, she was beaten until she received a concussion and lost consciousness. That early part of the beating is the second film released by the Sheriff.

News reports after the beating stated that Lindsay had suffered vision and hearing loss; however, she discloses in the interview that the hearing problem has healed, but she still suffers from vision impairment, which may be corrected with glasses.

Lindsay's alleged attackers have been charged with assault and a more serious charge of kidnapping. The trial of her alleged attackers has not yet been held.

Following is the video interview with Victoria Lindsay:



The callous attitude of Lindsay's alleged attackers shocked the world when news of the beating first hit the media. Cara Murphy was initially charged along with the other defendants in the case, but charges against her were later dropped, at which time she sort of apologized in an interview by saying, "I guess I'm sorry for all that happened. I'm glad the charges got dropped though."

Oh yes! That certainly sounds remorseful.

Six Teen Girls Gang Beat 16-year-old for YouTube Video - first film
Victoria Lindsay Teen Gang Beating Victim 2nd Video Released May 2008
Victoria Lindsay 911 Call Video
Victoria Lindsay MySpace Page Update
3 Victoria Lindsay Defendants Get Off Scot Free - Charges Dropped Against Gang Beating Defendants - Video

The following blogger posted a transcript of the second Lindsay film because much of the conversation is garbled and difficult to understand:
Transcript of 2nd Victoria Lindsay Video

3 Victoria Lindsay Defendants Get Off Scot Free - Charges Dropped Against Gang Beating Defendants - Video

In a dramatic turn of events in the notorious Victoria Lindsay teen gang beating case, three of the eight teen age defendants in the case had all charges against them dropped and the prosecutor has no additional plans to charge them further.

Victoria Lindsay is a 16-year-old Lakeland, Florida, cheerleader that was ambushed by a gang of her classmates and severely beaten until she lost consciousness. Once she regained consciousness, she was beaten again.

Lindsay suffered a concussion, eye and ear damage along with bruises and lacerations and recurring nightmares about the beating. The startling part about the entire incident was that the defendants had filmed the beating so they could post it on YouTube and MySpace.

Polk County prosecutors dropped charges against the three defendants because of insufficient evidence against them. The three were Cara Murphy, 16, Zachary Ashley, 17, and Stephen Schumaker, 18.

When the eight defendants were initially arrested, the Polk County Sheriff’s office had stated that Ashley and Schumaker had stood guard outside the site of the attack, which was the home of Mary Nichols, the grandmother of defendant Mercades Nichols, who lived with her grandmother. Lindsay was living with Nichols and her grandmother at the time of the attack.

The Sheriff’s office had also initially stated that Murphy, the single female defendant whose charges were dropped, was the teen filming the beating. A female voice can be heard on the video from behind the scenes saying, “Ooh, yeah, baby. Ooh, yeah!” The Sheriff’s office had stated that voice was none other than defendant Cara Murphy. Watch the original video released by the Sheriff’s office.

The Sheriff had also stated early on that it was Murphy’s voice on the video letting the other girls know that the video was running out of film. “Seventeen seconds left,” the voice said while the beating continued. “Make it good.” Watch the second video released by the Sheriff’s office.

Neither the Sheriff’s office nor the prosecutor gave any indication why charges against the three were dropped other than lack of evidence. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd had even said early on in the case that one of the boys stuck his head in from outside and told the girls to quiet down because neighbors were able to hear the fight.

Why the evidence against Murphy and the two male defendants had evaporated remains a mystery, although Murphy's attorney has said that she has agreed to testify against the other defendants.

Usually prosecuting attorneys strike deals with a single defendant to testify against other defendants in exchange for a lesser charge or perhaps charges being dropped altogether.

It is unknown whether any deal was struck in this case although it certainly seems like one was.



Said Cara Murphy after the charges against her were dropped, "I guess I'm sorry for all that happened. I'm glad the charges got dropped though."

Murphy said that she never realized that the incident would turn into a national controversy. After she apologized to Victoria Lindsay, the victim, on the air but not in person, Murphy admitted she could have done more to stop the beating.

"During the time I definitely can say I felt scared for her. Once I saw the video, I realized this was a bad thing that happened."

Her attorney, Melodie Lopez, said, "My client and I are happy this is over. She should not have been charged. We feel vindicated that the charges have been dropped. I think it's wrong that all the kids there were charged as a group. Their involvement was not the same."

Let's see...Victoria suffers a concussion, permanent vision and hearing loss plus numerous bumps, scrapes and bruises, and Cara realized "this was a bad thing that happened?"


And what about remorse...was there any on Cara's part?

"I guess I'm sorry for all that happened," said Cara.

Oh yeah. That sounds like remorse alright. She guesses she's sorry. What she really meant to say was "My attorney made me say I'm sorry." What she's really sorry about is getting caught in the first place.

But she's "glad the charges got dropped though."

I'll bet she is! Cara goes from facing 15 years to life in prison one day to getting off scot free the next. Who wouldn't be glad?

Does it sound to you like she has learned anything from this ordeal? I'll bet next time she will cover her tracks better.

She must really like prison orange because she's not just wearing it in the slammer. She's even wearing it on the outside.

View Original Victoria Lindsay Beating Video
Victoria Lindsay Teen Beating Victim 2nd Video
Victoria Lindsay 911 Call Video
Victoria Lindsay MySpace Page Update
Middle School Copycat of Victoria Lindsay Beating - Video
US Marine Throws Puppy off Cliff to its death - video
Police Deputy Dumps Quadriplegic from Wheelchair - video
15 Philadelphia Police Beat and Stomp 3 Suspects - Video
New Born Baby Falls from Moving Train
US Tank Runs Over Iraqi Car but Doesn't Stop - Video

Victoria Lindsay Poll - 23% Favor Death Penalty for Teen Defendants

In a totally unscientific poll taken over the Internet, 23% of the respondents favored the death penalty for the defendants that allegedly beat up Victoria Lindsay for the now infamous reason of filming the beating to post it on MySpace and YouTube.

Another 22.5% of respondents favored a sentence from 15 years to life in prison, which means that 45.5% of the respondents felt that the offense was serious enough to warrant serious prison time and even death.

Victoria Lindsay is the 16-year-old cheerleader from Mulberry High School in Lakeland, Florida, who was lured to her then residence and allegedly beaten by six classmates and cheerleaders until she was unconscious. Then, once she regained consciousness, she was beaten some more.

Victoria suffered a concussion, vision and hearing loss, a chipped tooth and numerous abrasions from the incident.

The Polk County Sheriff's office released two videos of the beating. The first video was released not long after the beating incident, which occurred March 31, 2008. The second video was released about May 22nd.

20% of the poll's respondents favored a prison sentence of 5-15 years, while 23% favored 1-5 years behind bars.

9% thought that six months in jail was justified, and 3% favored probation.

Here are the exact results of the poll along with the wording used:
View Original Victoria Lindsay Beating Video
Second Victoria Lindsay Beating Video
Victoria Lindsay 911 Call Video
Victoria Lindsay MySpace Page Update
Middle School Copycat of Victoria Lindsay Beating - Video
US Marine Throws Puppy off Cliff to its death - video
Police Deputy Dumps Quadriplegic from Wheelchair - video
15 Philadelphia Police Beat and Stomp 3 Suspects - Video
New Born Baby Falls from Moving Train
US Tank Runs Over Iraqi Car but Doesn't Stop - Video

Victoria Lindsay Teen Gang Beating Victim 2nd Video Released May 2008

The Polk County, Florida, Sheriff’s office released a second video in the teen gang beating of the Mulberry High School cheerleader, Victoria Lindsay. We have posted a copy of the beating here.


Lindsay, who was 16 at the time of the beating March 30th, suffered a concussion along with hearing and vision loss from the attack. The Sheriff’s office has said that the most vicious part of the beating was not filmed. See the first video.

The eight teen age classmates of Victoria had planned to place the video of the beating on MySpace and YouTube in retaliation for Victoria saying some unpleasant remarks about them on her MySpace page.

The second video shows April Cooper, 14, one of the alleged attackers, and Victoria arguing in a bedroom of the home of Mary Nichols, the grandmother of Mercades Nichols, 17, another one of the alleged attackers. Mercades had invited Victoria to live with her and her parents after Victoria felt uncomfortable living with her father and step-mother.

After the argument in the bedroom escalated, April Cooper allegedly appeared to begin punching Victoria in the face, pushed her onto a bed and continued punching her.

The Sheriff’s office also released several photos of Victoria after the attack, and the photos clearly showed blackened eyes and numerous other marks on Victoria’s face, arms and legs.

Mary Nichols, Mercades Nichols’ grandmother, told police detectives that she was shocked when she saw the video. "I was shocked that she (Mercades) didn't intervene and say, 'Hey, enough is enough," Mary Nichols said.

"You know you hit her once, that's it. Let her go."

"I don't care what anybody does. Nobody deserves to be beat like that," Mary Nichols told investigators.

The grandmother also said she knows that her granddaughter has anger issues, but she has also shown a compassionate side by helping stray dogs and rabbits.

The video that was released by the Sheriff's office had about one minute and 35 seconds in the middle that was almost totally black. We have enhanced that section the best that we could. The Sheriff's office also inserted beeps over the many expletives in the video.



View Original Victoria Lindsay Beating Video
Victoria Lindsay 911 Call Video
Victoria Lindsay MySpace Page Update
Middle School Copycat of Victoria Lindsay Beating - Video
US Marine Throws Puppy off Cliff to its death - video
Police Deputy Dumps Quadriplegic from Wheelchair - video
15 Philadelphia Police Beat and Stomp 3 Suspects - Video
New Born Baby Falls from Moving Train
US Tank Runs Over Iraqi Car but Doesn't Stop - Video

Victoria Lindsay's 911 Call - Teen Gang Beating Victim

Victoria Lindsay is the 16-year-old cheerleader from Lakeland, Florida, who was gang beaten by six other teen age girls from her school so they could post a video of the beating on YouTube and MySpace. Lindsay’s 911 call to the police after the attack was released by the Polk County Sheriff and is included below.

Here are the mug shots of the alleged perpetrators:


















Police have said that the “animalistic” ambush on Victoria lasted 30 minutes during which Victoria's head was brutally beaten into a wall until she fell unconscious. See the actual video of the beating.

Victoria told People magazine in her first interview after the beating that she was in “a lot of pain” after the attack.

Victoria is also quoted as telling People, “Your No. 1 friend is your family. Don’t trust anybody,” and if “you put it on the Internet, it will live in infamy.”

Obviously Victoria feels betrayed by girls that she thought were her friends including Mercades Nichols, whom she was living with until the day of the attack. Mercades was allegedly one of the attackers.

At her tender age, Mercades already has a violent legal record. Last fall her boyfriend at the time filed a dating violence injunction against her.

All 6 1/2 minutes of the 911 call are now posted on this web page. The second Victoria Lindsay video of the fight released by the police is right here. The very first vid is here.



More abuse videos
Video of six teens girls gang beating 16-year-old classmate for YouTube Video
Alleged Drug Dealer forces baby to smoke marijuana - video
US Marine throws puppy off cliff to its death - video
US Tank accidentally runs over Iraqi car but doesn't stop - video
Deputy Sheriff dumps quadriplegic from wheelchair onto floor - video

Six Teen Girls Gang Beat 16-year-old for YouTube Video

Here is the much sought after video of six Florida teen age girls gang beating another 16-year-old girl and video taping the incident just so they could post the video of the beating on YouTube and MySpace.

The victim is Victoria Lindsay, a Lakeland, Florida, high school student and cheerleader, who suffered a concussion during the beating, along with hearing and vision loss. Lakeland is near the Tampa metropolitan area.

The six alleged perpetrators are from age 14 to 17 and all attend Mulberry High School together. The six, along with two 18-year-old boys who stood as lookouts during the attack, will be tried as adults.

All are being charged with felony battery and felony false imprisonment. Brittni Hardcastle, Brittany Mayes and Mercades Nichols, all 17, also are charged with felony kidnapping and felony witness tampering because the three girls allegedly drove Lindsay around after the attack and threatened to beat her even more if she reported the beating to the police.

Eventually, they dropped her off at an intersection near another teen's home.

Prior to the video shown here, the six girls allegedly beat Lindsay to the point that she lost consciousness. Once she awoke, the alleged attackers began the video taping and continued the beating.

Patrick Lindsay, Victoria Lindsay’s father, said during a news conference, "When I saw my daughter in the emergency room, I didn't even recognize my own daughter.”

Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said, “They lured her into the home for the express purpose of filming the attack and posting it on the Internet. This is outrageous behavior.”

It is being reported by the media that the motivation for the attack was retaliation for things Lindsay posted about the other girls on her MySpace page. However, the page had virtually nothing posted on it on 4/13/2008.

Even on a high speed connection both Blogger and YouTube have been slow to start videos lately, so please be patient. Video will begin eventually. Sometimes you must click the start button twice.



The attack and the video taping of the attack is taking cyber bullying to a new level.

The battery and false imprisonment charges could result in a 10 year sentence, while the kidnapping charge could add another 15 years in prison.

Victoria Lindsay 911 Call - Video
US Marine throws puppy off cliff to its death - video
US tank accidentally runs over Iraqi car but doesn't stop - video
Deputy Sheriff dumps quadriplegic from wheelchair onto floor - video
Alleged Drug Dealer Forces Baby to smoke marijuana - video
More on Abuse