ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — An Orange County mother is outraged that a plea deal is on the table for the teenager she says punched her son in the head on the school bus.
Video shows the 15-year-old getting repeatedly hit in the head while trying to get home on a Winter Park High School bus in September.
“When I hear the noise of my son getting beat on that school bus over and over and over again, it makes me so mad,” the boy’s mother, Kimberly Richards said.
Richards said she is upset that the boy accused of hitting her son could take a plea deal, calling it a “slap on the wrist.”
A pre-disposition report for the teen was requested in court on Tuesday. It will assess his social history with recommendations for the appropriate sentence.
An attorney involved in the case said the report usually is only requested for crimes higher than a misdemeanor or if the accused has a history.
Richards said she wants to see significant punishment for the accused attacker to hold him responsible for the impact on her son’s life, including being forced to switch schools to feel safer.
At the next hearing this summer, Richards can decide if she is OK with the plea agreement.