Mom, daughter arrested after school cafeteria brawl

ORLANDO, Fla.,None — Orange County deputies said a mother stormed her child's school and helped beat up another student in the cafeteria.

The fight broke out Tuesday morning at Lockhart Middle School, and the alleged victim said this all started because of bullying.

Orange County deputies said Leslie Thomas teamed up with her 11-year-old daughter in a lunchroom brawl involving feuding sixth-graders.

Both mom and daughter were arrested, and the mother was charged with battery, child abuse and other charges for entering the school without permission and provoking the fight.

Jahmiyah Smith says the 29-year-old mother stormed in with her daughter and told her to attack.

"All of the sudden I saw a big crowd coming into the cafeteria," Jahmiyah said. "The girl just called me the b word, and then I turned around and she hit me from the back."

Jahmiyah said her friends stepped in to stop it, and that's when the mom got involved as well.

"She was in there fighting with the kids," Jahmiyah said.

Jahmiyah's mother, Kathleen Smith, said she's complained to the school about her daughter being bullied by a group of girls, including the girl involved in the fight.

"Every day I'm at the school, and I just keep complaining and complaining and complaining, and nothing gets done. It takes for this to happen for them to want to do something," Kathleen Smith said.

WFTV tried to ask Principal Eric Hollinhead if the school had ignored Kathleen Smith's plea for help, but reporter Drew Petrimoulx was kicked off campus.

The school board said it has a zero-tolerance policy against bullying.

Thomas is currently being held at the Orange County jail. Details on the daughter's charges have not been released because she is a minor.

WFTV