23-year-old Beyonce Jones of Duplin County, North Carolina, was defending her mother against another woman inside the Jacksonville Mall, when the woman’s husband allegedly punched Jones in the face. Jones was the only person charged in the fight.
A mother in North Carolina is outraged after her daughter was charged with assaulting a white man who had assaulted her first. The North Carolina Beat has obtained partial video footage of the incident.
On Tuesday, Tammie Sloan said it was a typical day, but she had to drive from Duplin County to Jacksonville Mall in Jacksonville, North Carolina to exchange a gift she had received that was too small. She told The North Carolina Beat that her 23-year-old daughter, Beyonce Jones, and her 3- and 5-year-old children rode with her. Sloan said that when she arrived at the mall, she first stopped by DTLR to browse for some shoes.
After she left DTLR, she told her daughter, Jones, to watch the kids because she had to go exchange a gift. She said her children walked to the playground area inside the Jacksonville Mall, located between MOE’S and The Shoe Department. Unbeknownst to Sloan, as she was walking out of the store, she saw Jones walking towards her while her 3- and 5-year-old children played at the playground.
“I got on to my daughter for leaving my babies at the playground by themselves,” Sloan said. “She understood and said that she was just trying to see where I had went to.”
Jacksonville Mall security guard confronted Tammie Sloan about her kids in the play area after an unidentified woman complained to them about her children left unattended.
As Sloan and her daughter walked back towards the play area of the mall, Sloan observed a woman talking to the mall security. As she walked up, she could hear the woman telling the mall security that Sloan had left her 3-year-old and 5-year-old unattended.
“The security guard approached me and asked me if those were my kids and I said ‘yes'”,Sloan said. “I told him that I take full responsibility and that my daughter was supposed to have been watching them.”
Unidentified woman steps in the face of Tammie Sloan attempting to check her about leaving her kids unattended
After Sloan informed the officer that the children were hers and that she would take full responsibility, she stated that the unidentified woman who had complained about her “jumped” in her face and started calling her an unfit mother. Sloan also mentioned that the woman’s husband stood beside her. She said she and Jones, told the unidentified woman to leave them alone and mind their own business.
“I didn’t mind taking responsibility and talking to the security guard but this lady who jumped in my face… I don’t even know her and I don’t live here,” Sloan said.
After asking the woman to step away from Sloan at least three times, Jones punched her. Sloan told The North Carolina Beat that after her daughter punched the woman, the woman grabbed Sloan’s wig, and they began fighting. Another man, who was with the unidentified woman and her husband, restrained Sloan while the woman assaulted her.
“Whoever the guy was that was with them had grabbed me, and let her hit me,” Sloan said.
White man allegedly punches black 23-year-old Beyonce Jones in the face and is not charged for assault on a female
While Sloan is being grabbed and held back, the husband of the unidentified woman forcefully rushes to fight Jones as she continues to fight with his wife. However, Jones could been seen trying to get away from the unidentified man before he grabs her. After the white man grabs Jones, he punches her in the face, according to Sloan. Seconds later, a couple of men ran to pull the man off of Jones and began punching him in the face.
Jacksonville Police Department only handcuffed Tammie Sloan and her daughter Beyonce Jones
The security personnel at Jacksonville Mall, who appeared lost and idle, did nothing to de-escalate the situation. The Jacksonville Police Department arrived approximately ten minutes after the fight. Sloan said that is when Officer Kent placed handcuffs on her and her 23-year-old daughter, threatening them with arrest. She said she was eventually released from the handcuffs after another woman informed the officer that they did not start the altercation.
“The officer put us in handcuffs but I was taken out of them after a lady walked over and told the officer that we didn’t start anything,” Sloan said. “But the officer told my daughter what she was being charged with and took her to jail and the white people that started with us didn’t even get arrested.”
Sloan said that Officer Kent did not ask for their side of the story, only what the white family told him. She said that eyewitnesses offered to give their statements about what happened, but he did not want to speak with them. Sloan said that Officer Kent told them that if it had been his wife being assaulted by her daughter, he would have done the same thing.
Before leaving the premises of Jacksonville Mall, Sloan said she asked the officer for the name of the man who assaulted her daughter, but Officer Kent refused. Sloan said she wanted the man’s information so she could press charges against him for assaulting her daughter. The officer then hauled her 23-year-old daughter to jail.
WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW:
Sloan expressed feeling that the officer at the scene did not conduct a thorough and fair investigation. She said she believe that their race may have influenced the treatment they received.
“How my daughter get charged for assaulting the man and he hit her first? Sloan asked. “He should have been charged too.”
You can help this family by emailing District Attorney Ernie Lee at [email protected] and demand him to dismiss the charges against Beyonce Jones or file charges against the man who assaulted her.
This is typical for them and especially if they have any military afflictions. Similar incident and they won’t tell their name so you can take papers out
This is wildly inaccurate!! I was there.