Victoria Lindsay, a Mulberry High School cheerleader, was violently ambushed by several girls, while one of the teenagers video taped the beating.
Lindsay, a student at Mulberry High School in Lakeland, Florida, was attacked by the girls in retaliation for comments Lindsay made on MySpace. The girls then said they would videotape the ambush and post it on YouTube.
Lindsay, 16, was having problems at home after having a fight with her mother and was staying with a friend, Mercades Nichols, in Lakeland.
On March 30 about 8:30 p.m., the victim arrived at Nichols' house and was greeted by Nichols and another girl. Lindsay went into the bedroom where she was staying, and a third girl, April Cooper, 14, began to insult and threaten her, then hit her in the face several times and slammed her head into a wall, which knocked her unconscious.
When Lindsay awoke, she was on the living room couch surrounded by six girls who took turns punching and kicking her while the beating was video taped. Lindsay told investigators that the six blocked the door, held her down and beat her for a half-hour. Her left ear and eye were injured during the ambush, authorities said.
After the attack, three girls forced Lindsay into a car and drove her to another location, where they threatened that if she told, the next fight would be worse.
Nichols' mother Christina Garcia went onto NBC's Today Show and said she was in disgust after how her daughter handled the situation. Garcia said Nichols should have called the police immediately.
Eight teenagers were arrested Wednesday on charges of felony battery and false imprisonment.
They are Nichols, Cooper, Brittni Hardcastle, 17, Kayla Hassell, 15, Brittany Mayes, 17, Cara Murphy, 16, Zachary Ashley, 17, and Stephen Schumaker, 18.
Mayes, Hardcastle and Nichols also were arrested on charges of felony kidnapping for forcing the victim into the car and driving her to another location.
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