Florida mother charged with encouraging daughter to fight

NEW PORT RICHEY, Fla. (AP) – A Florida mother drove her 13-year-old daughter to a fight with a peer and encouraged the girl to brawl, officials said Monday, and two bystanders recorded the incident on video.

Tabitha Anne Bennett was arrested and charged with child abuse, assault and battery offenses, Pasco County Sheriff’s officials said.

On April 12, Bennett sent a Facebook message to a 14-year-old girl, telling her that she was bringing her daughter to fight her, deputies said.

Bennett told authorities that she felt the other teen was bullying her daughter, so she encouraged her to fight.

According to an arrest affidavit, Bennett drove up to the fight location and exited her car with a folding knife in her hand.

“The 14-year-old victim advised she thought she was going to die when she saw the defendant with the knife,” Detective William Orndorff wrote in the report.

Deputies say at least two people recorded the fight and posted video footage on social media. Officials say Bennett was captured kicking and pulling the hair of the 14-year old and was heard yelling and encouraging her daughter to fight by yelling, “Get on top of her” and “kick her ass.”

Bennett was released from jail Sunday on $10,500 bail. It was unclear Monday whether she had retained an attorney who could be reached for comment.