Woman charged with assaulting black girl she accused of stealing mail
A white South Carolina woman is facing charges for allegedly assaulting an 11-year-old black girl she accused of stealing her mail – a confrontation her attorney claims was racially motivated.
Elizabeth Shirey, 38, is accused of “aggressively” approaching Skhylur Davis, of Aiken, as the girl picked up her grandmother’s mail with three other friends on May 11, the Augusta Chronicle reports.
“Mrs. Shirey happens to see this young child by her mailbox and proceeds to come out of her home, yell at this 11-year-old girl,” the girl’s attorney, Justin Bamberg, said Tuesday during a news conference. “Mrs. Shirey runs aggressively towards this 11-year-old child accusing her of committing a felony, stealing her mail.”
Shirey grabbed the girl by her arms and tugged on them, according to Aiken Department of Public Safety report obtained by the newspaper.
Shirey’s husband, Justin Shirey told Skhylur the incident wouldn’t have occurred if she was a different “type,” she said during Tuesday’s news conference.
“You don’t have to think about what type he meant,” she said.
The woman apologized to the girl after seeing the address on the mail, the report states.
She then offered her cookies, “as though that makes things better,” Bamberg said.
Elizabeth Shirey has been charged with third-degree assault and battery in the incident. Her husband hung up when reached by a reporter Tuesday, the Augusta Chronicle reports. No racial slurs were said during the confrontation, the newspaper reports.
Aiken Mayor Rick Osbon declined to comment on the case, saying prosecutors will pursue criminal charges.
“All people deserve to be treated justly, all people deserve to be treated fairly and all people deserve to be treated equal,” Osbon told the newspaper. “No one should be treated differently because of race, gender or any other reason.”
Skhylur, for her part, said she hopes Shirey grows from the alleged assault.
“I hope she learns that you can’t do that to people because I’m just as much a human being as you are, too,” she told WACH. “So, this isn’t right.”
via: https://nypost.com/2020/05/20/woman-assaulted-black-girl-she-accused-of-stealing-mail-cops/
Photo Credit: Bamberg Legal