Many children, teenagers and young people follow different kinds of trends on the social media platforms in an effort to gather more followers and likes on their profiles. Although many of these trends seem to be fun and interactive, some people are prepared to do everything to look funny without realizing the potential risks and danger.
So was the case with the 18-year-old L. Jackson, a high school student, who wanted to gather more likes and followers on TikTok and she decided to violently attack her 64-year-old teacher during classes. Jackson approached her seated teacher and punched the teacher, knocking her to the ground, according to police at the time of the incident.
The disabled teacher suffered numerous injuries in the attack and had been taken to a local hospital for treatment. The teacher was in stable condition after the attack and recovered shortly after the incident.
The local community, where the incident took place in Louisiana school, were nothing but devastated when they heard that the motive behind the attack was TikTok trend and the student recorded the whole incident on camera. Het intention was to later upload the video online and become part of the ‘trend’.
The incident happened two months ago and Jackson was arrested on October 6, shortly after the incident, when she was charged with felony battery of a school teacher. However, by the end of October, Jackson had her charges upgraded and she had been charged with felony counts that could be punishable by up to 10 years in prison. She was then officially charged with Felony Second Degree Battery and Cruelty to the Infirmed.
According to court documents, the upgraded charges came after police obtained the video of the incident where Jackson is clearly seen attacking her teacher on purpose. As expected, the video was used as additional evidence in court against the high schooler.
Investigators who were appointed to the case believe the attack could be tied to the “slap a teacher” challenge, part of a viral TikTok trend called “devious licks.” The “challenge” has prompted strong responses of condemnation from the California Teachers Association and the Connecticut attorney general.
Jackson had her plea court hearing earlier this month on December 8 and she pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.
Louisiana criminal law regarding insanity states if the circumstances indicate that an offender was incapable of distinguishing between right and wrong at the time of an alleged offense because of a mental disease or mental defect, the offender shall be exempt from criminal responsibility.
It remains unclear how the defense tries to defend their client since Jackson was seen on the video attacking the teacher intentionally. Additionally, a person claiming this defense must be examined by a mental health physician, who will then testify as to their findings which was not the case with Jackson so far. The information was also confirmed by the 22nd Judicial District.
If convicted, Jackson faces up to ten years in prison. A pre-trial hearing is scheduled for March 14.
The video can be seen here.
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