Ernslatta LaFrance of Miami Gardens, Florida was arrested on March 28 for allegedly attacking a teenager twice and stealing her phone because the teen reportedly attacked her daughter. LaFrance, 30, is being charged with strong-arm burglary, aggravated battery, and child abuse.
She was held at Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $38,000 bond and has since been released. News sources did not name an attorney for LaFrance.
According to the arrest report, the alleged incident took place at Coral City Senior High School. LaFrance reportedly showed up at the school searching for one of her daughter’s classmates. The classmate had allegedly been in a fight with her daughter at the Miami-Dade County Fair & Exposition. Sources did not say what was the cause of the altercation.
LaFrance went to the school with her girlfriend, Erlisa Evans, and her daughter during afternoon dismissal to confront her daughter’s rival in the school parking lot. LaFrance allegedly knocked the victim’s phone out of her hand and hit the teen several times before leaving the scene with the girl’s phone.
The confrontation didn’t end there; the victim reportedly went to LaFrance’s home in Opa-locka with a group of friends to get her phone back and LaFrance got into another fight with her. This time LaFrance allegedly broke her finger with a stick and damaged her vehicle with an ax. Evans, 28, also reportedly went outside with a gun and fired three warning shots in the air. She was arrested on charges of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and firing a gun in public.
LaFrance posted a video of the fight on Facebook and warned “those messing with her daughter to beware,” investigators said. In the video, she told the victim that the punches were “not the end” and that she would “use a gun” next time.
When confronted by police about the incident, LaFrance allegedly admitted to getting in a fight with her daughter’s classmate. She also reportedly told police that Evans had fired the shots. Both LaFrance and Evans were arrested.
In bond court, a judge admonished LaFrance and told her to “act [her] age, not [her] shoe size.” LaFrance told the press that she went to the school parking lot on the afternoon of March 27 to find out “what was going on,” and not to attack anyone. She claims that her daughter’s classmate attacked her first and that she was the one who was assaulted.
In the state of Florida, child abuse is defined as “a willful or threatened act resulting in physical, mental or sexual injury or harm.” A child victim is any unmarried person under the age of 18 who has not been emancipated by a court order.
A child abuse charge can be considered a third-degree felony or a second-degree felony depending on the circumstances, the extent of the abuse, and the defendant’s prior history. Third-degree felonies are punished by up to five years in prison and/or five years of probation, and a $5,000 fine.