A hairstylist in Maryland is facing a second-degree assault charge after a video surfaced showing her dragging a 15-year-old girl across a salon floor. This incident allegedly occurred when the girl attempted to leave her appointment without paying a $150 bill.
The stylist, 18-year-old Jayla Cunningham, shared the now-viral footage, which depicts her pulling the young client by her hoodie and subsequently throwing her to the ground. According to FOX 5 in Washington D.C., Cunningham claims that the teen tried to leave without settling the payment.
In the video, Cunningham is heard saying to the girl, “Sit right here until somebody sends it.” She further expresses her frustration, stating, “I’m not f—— playing. You just tried to f—— run. You’re lucky I didn’t beat the s— out of you.” The footage later shows her cutting the weave out of the teenager’s hair.
Cunningham insists that if she hadn’t forcibly brought the client back into the salon, the girl would have left without paying. However, the teen’s mother explained to FOX 5 that her daughter had mistakenly sent the payment to the wrong account and was trying to resolve the issue.
“Forget trash; she ran without paying me,” Cunningham asserted. “I dragged her by her hood back into the salon until I could get paid or until the police arrived, or until she let me remove the service. She literally ran outside as if she was about to leave for good.”
Cunningham believes that if she hadn’t intervened, she would have never received the payment. She is now facing second-degree assault charges, as per court records reviewed by PEOPLE.
Cunningham claims to have a witness who can support her account, but she has also received death threats after the video gained widespread attention, prompting her to relocate her salon.
Meanwhile, the teenager’s family has enlisted the services of Jackson and Associates, a law firm based in Upper Marlboro. Attorney De’Aja Thompson condemned the incident in an interview, calling the video of the alleged assault “horrendous.”
“It’s a 15-year-old girl. We’re talking about someone’s child,” Thompson stated. “A child who is being dragged across a salon floor over something as trivial as a mistake.”
In a subsequent statement to PEOPLE, Thompson remarked: “This shocking incident involving a minor and an adult stylist was entirely preventable. Unfortunately, this case illustrates the consequences of individuals taking the law into their own hands, resulting in physical and psychological harm to a young girl for what turned out to be an honest mistake, while another young woman faces serious criminal repercussions.”
Watch the saga via this link: https://www.instagram.com/lindaikejiblogofficial/?utm_source=ig_embed&ig_rid=750d625c-772b-4192-865d-a3efc436af75
