And somebody watches my camera and sees her bloody lip. You start swinging at her and then she >> never hit my mama first. She's like, "Oh, you you got. Why you always doing this?" I have blood on me, too, bro. It She kept hitting me, hitting me, hitting me, so I hit her. I was hitting her back, but I didn't hit her that hard. On January 12th, 2024, officers in Riviera Beach, Florida, pull up to find a 13-year-old girl outside crying and begging them to take her mother away. Then, the mother opens her mouth. >> She put her hands on me. She thinks she can beat me. So, I showed her. And then she says the one thing that tells officers exactly how she sees what just happened. Y'all need to take her and hit her and beat me, bro. My mama keep hitting me, bro. She hit me. Hold on. I'm coming. You need medics? Oh. Oh, please take her. Please take her, bro. No, no, no, no, no. Tell me what happened. I think I think it's going to be a problem with her teenage daughter. What's going on this morning? My daughter thinks she can beat me. We will take her. She put her hands on me. >> Take me. Let's go. I told her to get up and get ready for school. >> Take me, bro. Okay, what's what's going on, though? I mean, it's just because she won't go to school? >> No. She put her hands on me. She thinks she can beat me. So, I showed her. Yeah, that's what happened. How old is your daughter? How old is your daughter? 13. What else was it about? Just just because she wouldn't go to school? No. I told her to get up, get ready for school. Sorry. Is that it? Is that it, daughter? She peed in there. So, she gets out and she First of all, she starts to pee in there. She's still peeing in there. She what? >> She's still peeing in there. Okay. So, I had to get up, wipe down my friend's couch. I told her to go get in the shower. She goes and gets in the shower, and then she walks in the room. I told her to get what you need to get out of the room and come on, let's go. So, she goes in the room and she takes a number, so I go in there and I'm like, "What the [ __ ] did I just say?" Right. >> Told you to get your [ __ ] and come on. Right. She like, oh, uh you a god. Why you always doing this? Some lives are real. Get your ass out of here. Like I said. Right. So she think she can beat me. She go to swinging on me. No, you can't beat me. What did she push you first or did she just took a swing at you? >> hands on me. How did she do What did she do? I mean just like just like >> Swinging. Swinging. She 13. All right. Mom, what's your first name? Monica. And I just had all of these year cases with her. I don't know who she calling or whatever the case may be. But this is not the first time that she did this. She 13 years old and you going to respect me. You going to respect me. Okay. Uh what's What's her name is Her Is there anybody else in the house that watched it? >> No. No. Oh, I see you got her name tattooed on you there. It's Oliver. Huh? It's Oliver. This is my But she always think she think she can get slick and think she can do whatever the [ __ ] she want to. Is that right? All right. Just hang out here for a second. Let me go talk to her real quick. So, how did you guys end up here? This is uh pretty much Did you guys stay the night or you just came over? Oh, no. We just came over. Okay. Stay right there. Yeah. Yeah, Mom, just stay right there. Let me talk to her. The mother has given her side, but the officer still has a girl outside saying she does not want to go back with her. What happened this morning? I went I took I was taking a shower and I got out and I went to her room so I could get my lotion. I went in her room and I was getting the lotion and I was telling her asking her what she was doing with the with my shirt. And then my mom she came and she get her ass out of my room talking [ __ ] to me. Mind you she hot and then talk to you like how she do this to me. So she went She went She went and came in the room and she punched me in my face. I said, what did I do to you? And then she she hit me again. So I said, bro, I hate you. And I tried to walk out and she dragged me by my hair. And I had a ponytail and she pulled it out. She grabbed my hair and then she was hitting me, so I started hitting her back. And then she kept hitting me and hitting me and hitting me, so I hit her I was hitting her back and my auntie grabbed me. My auntie was like, "Stop." So I stopped and she just sat there and was hitting me and I just sat there. And I just let her hit me and I didn't care. And I told her and I kept Every time she hit me I said, "I don't care. I don't care. I don't care." That's what she was screaming when you got here. I don't care. I'm embarrassed to say I don't care. That's what I was like yelling at her. Yeah. Um I'm not going with y'all. So y'all going to have to take one of us cuz I'm not going. She was getting ready for school. Mom's supposed to be on some 47th, 30th I don't know, something. They don't even live here. They came here to shower. She get homeless. She said they live over in off North Lake Shore Court or something. Yes, we live with her friend. They homeless, too. But we don't have no house, so yeah. Okay. Cuz obviously her story is a little different is that she was telling you to do stuff and She's lying. you didn't do it. She told you to get the clothes out of the the room that you needed, go take a shower. You were taking your time or whatever. You turned and got in her face or something like that. She You started swinging at her and then she >> hit my mama first. >> Then she obviously did what she did. All right, that's She what? Her face, her neck, her arms. She She was drunk. You dropped a You just dropped a something in your ear. Cuz it fell out of my ear. I could get my auntie. She's my auntie. What's your auntie's name? Britney. Is Lonnie the Is Lonnie the one that That's your aunt that What's her name? What's her >> Yes, that's her. Yes, she told me to bring it. Britney, okay. She's the one that been here a couple times. I was talking to Britney. I arrested her Yeah, that's her. and her strange boyfriend last night. Yeah. Or the second time last night. That is where the two stories separate. The mother says the girl swung first. The daughter says she was punched, dragged by the hair, and kept getting hit after someone tried to stop it. So the officer needs someone else, not another argument, but someone who saw how it started. Britney, did you see anything that happened this morning? Did you see any of that? She I She had a problem with the public bathroom. She peed while she was asleep and her mom freaked out? didn't want the other people in my house to know I don't know what happened, but Cuz mom looks a lot better than daughter. Daughter looks like she took the brunt of Yeah. whatever happened. Now, my worry is is did you see who started the physical first? Mom did? Mom grabbed her. Okay. She grabbed her by her hair? Yeah. Okay, that's what I'm saying. I don't even know why She was laughing. Right. And then she got pissed off. So, mom That one answer shifts everything. They have a child with visible injuries, a mother claiming she was defending herself, and a witness saying the mother grabbed first. All right. All right. What's that? She doesn't She was angry with Okay. Um Did mom drive here? Huh? Did mom drive here? Yes. Okay, so she has a car. Yes. Well, the the sad part of it is I don't know I'm going to call my sergeant most likely because I mean Florida has corporal punishment, but not beating your kid in the face. I mean, she's got a bloody lip. You know, you want to you know, spank your kid and you know, maybe slap around a little bit, but you're not supposed to leave marks and she's got a bloody lip. So, mom may end up going. I don't know. We're going to talk. She used to beat mom. These are her bruises. Yeah. She says that yeah, the daughter apparently has a problem with going to the bathroom and she has made an accident and she gets upset about it which I guess she's 13 but she didn't want anybody in the house to know about it or whatever. I guess mom didn't want anybody in the house knowing about it. That's what the I don't care I don't care was but mom went to grab her and I guess she was probably giving her some lip or whatever but I guess she was probably giving her some lip or whatever but mom grabbed her first which Yeah, she can grab her. That's not against the law. You're not supposed to punch and leave marks and stuff like that so Yeah. I mean I said because I had had the situation where a mom came and tried to find her one case I don't know if you were there but I don't think you were there but daughter is a runaway and then the mother's the daughter like friends jumped the mom. Mom beat all the asses but you know she she beat all the asses I was like well why didn't you I was like well she was telling her her child to go home. Right. >> She's been running away for a She's been missing for like a whole week or something. Right. And they're like well there's the marks and stuff. Just because her lip looks and stuff I would do Granted, child can be lippy but if we were to just punch our kid in the face, you know, bottom or whatever >> Yeah. her lips busted. Well, I told her She's scratched all over her face. Yeah, she wants to spank her kid that's one thing but beating her about the face >> There's no It's all over her face and her neck and everything is Yeah. So So I take her for the child abuse? Mhm. It's on her cuz we just did it. Yeah. Yeah. Matter if the child gives you lip or not. I know. You don't punch her in the face and drag her. She said she dragged her and her hair. Yeah. She pulled her ponytail and she got a ponytail and I was like what do you do? You lose your balance and her hair get pulled out. That's how the [ __ ] it happened. Mhm. That's why she's freaking out. I guess I'll take mom for the the child abuse. All right. We'll knock her out. Um so what we're going to do is she We're going to ask her if she's okay. She said she's been staying here cuz mom been in jail for 3 years, so she's been staying with her. >> Brittany said she was staying with Okay, so were you driving to your home? Yeah. The stories are messy. The injuries are not. The child's lip, the scratches, the hair pulling, and the witness account are all pointing at the same person. So, he walks back to the mother. All right. Can I explain to you why? Yeah. The unfortunate thing is here, you can't beat your child. I'm okay with you spanking her and all that stuff. You understand what I'm saying. I come here and she's got a busted out lip. It's all bloody her hair's pulled out. She's got scratches all over her arms. She's got scratches all over her. >> scratches on me, too, though. I understand that. >> She swung on me. I understand that, but you can't you can't be beating her like that. I mean, it's a it's a totally different thing than corporal punishment in the state of Florida. If I came here and she was red on her butt or red on her back or whatever, fine. I'm okay with that. >> at me, sir. I understand that. >> And I understand and that's the whole other thing. She's 13. Okay? I I can't I can't not I understand what you're saying. As a mom, as a parent, I get it. But you can't be beating on her. There's a difference between discipline and beating on somebody. There is a difference. I hit her like one or two times, but I really was holding her down with my knee. But I I can't >> I had her on the ground and I was holding her down with my knee. But here's the thing. If I leave and don't do anything about it, just write a report on it, and somebody watches my camera and sees her bloody lip, who do you think they're going to come talk to? They're going to come talk to me and I'm going to lose my job. And I've got kids to take care of. And it's domestic. I I have no other alternative. >> I have blood on me, too, though. It You You look You're the adult in this situation. She's 13. >> Right. Regardless, DCF got to be involved now. Yes, sir. The first time this situation just so you are aware. I understand. The mother keeps trying to explain it as a fight. The officer keeps bringing it back to the same thing. She is the adult, the girl is 13, and the injuries are visible. Yeah. Yes. You know, you what about your jewelry and stuff? You want to You want that to come with you? Yeah. They're going to give it right to me when I get out, right? Yeah. What's that? Child abuse. It's It sounds worse than it is, but when it is your child, it's not considered a simple battery. It's You have to call it child abuse. It's the same uh basic That answer is blunt. If this had been another adult, it might be talked about as battery, but because the injured person is her child, the charge changes. After that, the argument is over. Officers start taking her property, checking what goes with her, and getting ready to move her out. Got it. Is this your first time you've been arrested? >> No, it's not. For domestic? Yep. On her too? With her? What do you mean? What was the other domestic charge? Yeah, domestic period. I have Boyfriend? Oh, you haven't for domestic. Okay. All right. I mean, all my stuff with me. Can I bring my jacket with me? Yeah, yeah, we'll bring it >> with you. Yeah, yeah, it'll I don't know if they'll let you have that in the in the holding cell. They may give you an alternative shirt. They'll give you a They can give you a scrub. Her car is going to be towed cuz of what? Where's your car at? >> No, my car doesn't need to be towed. It's parked. Where's your car parked? In the back. It's parked. Still Sunny's probably not going to let you stay out here, but if it tow you, she'll just sign it, she'll deal with it, cuz Sunny's not going to let you stay out here. What can I Can I move it? We'll just call Sunny and let him know. Yeah, we'll call Sunny and let him know. But in this situation, your car is going to be out here. And then what they'll say is that kind of car is it? Gray. Gray. I'll call Sunny and let They're not going to let her take that into the jail. Do you have her name? Uh oh, yeah, witness. I should have her information, but Well, you were just here, so and you're on camera, so Yeah, plus you're taking custody of her. Cindy, what's your last name? Today's date? 1 19 89. Did you have to really think about that? No worries. Uh what's the contact number for you? I'm calling Sunny now. I just took a picture of her car. Okay. And um Let me get your statement. Okay. What else you need here? That's it. Yeah, 51 I'm sorry, 51 to the 4. 16155. Officers leave with the mother in custody. The witness stays with the daughter. Monica Hightower was charged with child abuse with assault and battery. Bond was set at $4,000. She was out 4 days later. 2 months after that, the state attorney looked at the case and chose not to move forward. No trial, no plea, [music] no sentence. The charge was formally dropped on March 18th, 2024. Case [music] closed. What stood out most to you? The mother saying, "So I showed her." The witness saying, "Who grabbed first?" Or finding out how this ended in court. Drop your thoughts in the comments and subscribe to the Bodycam Archive for more real police footage breakdowns.