CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. — Police said a local mother got on a school bus and made physical contact with a 9-year-old child. She’s now facing battery and other charges.
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Channel 2′s Tom Jones was in Clayton County Monday, where some parents said the incident unfolded over bullying. There is some dispute about who was bullying whom, but the situation ended up with a mother in handcuffs on her way to jail.
Tenisha Barber said she was waiting for her child’s school bus to arrive when she saw Roshaunda Qualls get on the bus on Mount Zion Parkway on Thursday.
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“She came up and she got on the bus,” Barber said.
What happened next led to Qualls’ arrest.
Court documents indicate that Qualls recklessly interfered with the operation of a school bus when she made intentional contact with the 9-year-old.
The Clayton County School System would only say the incident is under investigation.
Barber said she doesn’t condone what Qualls did, but is sympathetic.
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“She was trying to defend her child cause her child was getting bullied,” Barber said.
But another parent said it was Qualls’ child who was doing to bullying.
A judge ordered Qualls and her child to stay away from the other child, who was not identified.
“You’re not to enter a Clayton County school bus, particularly bus number 36,” the judge said.
Some people wonder how we’ve gotten to the point where we have incidents like this.
“It’s just crazy,” Kenya Blount said. “Things are just getting more and more out of hand.”
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