Mom gets probation in jail scuffle, driving into schoolgirls
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A mother who was sentenced Monday to probation and mental health treatment for intentionally striking two schoolgirls with her SUV near a Las Vegas-area high school pleaded guilty Tuesday to misdemeanor battery for scuffling with a jail guard while in custody.
Fatima Maria Mitchell, 36, remains jailed pending sentencing Sept. 19 for the August incident at the Clark County Detention Center. Her sentence is expected to be folded in with three years on probation and treatment at a residential behavioral health center in the crash case, said Connor Saphire, her deputy public defender.
Mitchell pleaded guilty in June to felony reckless driving after initially being charged with attempted murder in the March 28 crash near Basic High School in Henderson.
Police said her Chevrolet Tahoe struck a tree, a concrete sign and the two girls, who were treated at a hospital for broken bones.
Mitchell’s defense attorney in the crash case, Roger Bailey, said she looks forward to treatment to “put this incident behind her and move forward with her life.”
Police and prosecutors alleged that Mitchell deliberately drove toward the girls after they fought with her daughter at the 2,400-student campus, where brawls that day resulted in citations for four other students and a separate arrest of a parent.
The incident was among several that raised concerns about campus safety at the nation’s fifth-largest school district.
