Moreno Valley: Videos show fights at another middle school in aftermath of deadly on-campus incident
MORENO VALLEY, Calif. (KABC) -- Less than three weeks after cellphone video showed a fight at a Moreno Valley school that left a 13-year-old student dead, other videos have emerged that appear to show fights at another school in the city.
On Wednesday, a clip was posted by the Facebook group "Keeping up with the I.E." which depicts a violent incident that occurred that day inside a Sunnymead Middle School classroom.
After a 12-year-old girl walks over to confront another girl, also 12, who is standing at a desk, a teacher steps in between them in an attempt to prevent a fight.
RAW VIDEO: Cellphone videos show 2 fights at Sunnymead Middle School
Several students are heard screaming as the second girl starts throwing punches. Shortly before the footage ends, bystanders are seen trying to break up the altercation as one girl pulls the first girl's hair.
"This little girl asked for help at her school letting them know she was getting bullied and AGAIN they didn't do anything and these group of girls went into her classroom and jumped her there," according to the video's caption. "I feel bad for the one lady trying to stop it without any success."
Eyewitness News spoke to both girls involved in the fight along with their mothers.
Jazmin de la Torre, who is the student who appears to be getting attacked in the video, said she used to be friends with the other girl.
"She just started hitting me, so I just started defending myself," she said. "The teacher was trying to push her away, she was telling her you don't want to do this, you don't want to get suspended."
Jazmin's mother, Maribel de la Torre, says she is pulling her daughter from the school out of concern for her safety.
"I cannot believe that after what happened to Diego, these kids are not listening," Maribel de la Torre said, referring to the 13-year-old student who died after the fight at Landmark Middle School. "They're not paying attention to what they're doing. Or maybe they just don't care."
A spokesperson for the Riverside County Sheriff's Department said one of the students suffered injuries in that incident that were not life-threatening. The student was not hospitalized.
"The other student was determined the aggressor and charges will be filed out of custody," the Sheriff's Department said.
That 12-year-old girl told Eyewitness News she knows she messed up and is sorry.
Still, her mother says she does not believe her daughter is the only one to blame for the incident.
"The other girl was not suspended and she was fighting too," said her mother, Myra Barrintos.
Several concerned parents showed up to the Sunnymead campus on Thursday, demanding answers as to how this was allowed to happen - especially in the wake of the fatal fight at Moreno Valley's Landmark Middle School.
They want to see the school district do more to protect students.
"There's no fear because there's no consequence," said parent Carolina Ruiz. "If you give a kid a consequence, like zero tolerance, then maybe they would have fear."
Moreno Valley Unified School District Superintendent Martinrex Kedziora said the district is aware of the new fight videos.
"I want the Moreno Valley community to hear me loud and clear when I say that what I've seen and what we've all seen in those videos is absolutely unacceptable," Kedziora said. "And I want to ensure you that the images in the videos you are seeing are not true representatives of the Moreno Valley Unified School District."
He also criticized social media posts about the incidents.
"In fact it pains me that social media is being used to humiliate, denigrate and flat-out attack our students, just to go viral or elevate their own social media status," he added. "To be honest, I'm angry, I'm disappointed and quite frankly I'm just sad that this is happening here in the community that I've lived in for 28 years."
Teen suspect in fatal Moreno Valley school fight faces judge
On Sept. 20, another clip was posted by the same Facebook group. This video begins with a group of students running toward a confrontation involving several girls also at Sunnymead Middle School. After one of the girls is pushed and stumbles backward, a uniformed man rushes in to intervene.
"Hey! Hey! Hey!" the man yells while attempting to defuse the situation.
Undeterred, the other three girls rush forward and at least one of them throws a punch at the first girl while the officer stands between them. Amid the chaos, another man arrives and tries to help break up the melee.
The girl who was shoved is seen sitting on the ground, shielding her head with her arms as the footage ends.
The incidents at Sunnymead came to light in the aftermath of a Sept. 16 fight at Landmark Middle School that left a 13-year-old boy dead. The boy was identified only as Diego by the sheriff's department, who said the child's family planned to donate his organs to "transform this tragedy into the gift of life for other children."
Two fellow students have been charged with voluntary manslaughter in that case.
