MS Coast woman uses Florida’s stand your ground law in viral Seaside assault video
A Gulfport woman is using the “stand your ground” law to defend herself against a child abuse charge for allegedly hitting a 15-year-old boy in Seaside, Florida, according to records obtained from the Walton County Sheriff’s Office.
Jamie Elizabeth Warren, 43, and the boyfriend of one of her daughters, Andrew “Drew” Harrell, 23, were booked into the Walton County jail on Aug. 1.
Warren, who is married to Gulfport School Board President Steven Warren, faces a third-degree felony charge of abuse of a child without causing great bodily harm. She was released from jail on a $2,500 bond.
Harrell, 23, is a former resident of Starkville now living in Gulfport. He was arrested on a first-degree felony offense of aggravated child abuse that resulted in great bodily harm.
Harrell is accused of punching the teen repeatedly in the face, resulting in injuries to the minor. He also was released from jail on a $2,500 bond.
Walton County deputies made the arrests after responding to a report of an assault at the Seaside town center at 9:36 p.m. on July 31.
Since the arrests, video footage of the encounter has gone viral on Reddit, where over 10,000 users “upvoted” the video to increase its rank on the site, and over 1,200 people have commented. It was posted on the “r/PublicFreakout” subreddit which is a “dedicated to people freaking out, melting down, losing their cool, or being weird in public.”
What police reports say about the viral video
To make the arrests, Walton County deputies relied on statements from the alleged victim and 10 other witnesses along with video footage. The Sun Herald reviewed police reports that described what happened.
The Warrens, three of their daughters and two of the daughters’ boyfriends had just finished dinner at a Seaside restaurant and some of the group, including Harrell, were later walking at the town center when they encountered the group of teens on bicycles.
The allegations against Warren and Harrell are spelled out in arrest and incident reports obtained by the Sun Herald.
A friend of the alleged victim “inadvertently” ran his bike into Steven Warren, but Warren was able to reach out and stop the bike from hitting him, police records say. The boy apologized to Steven Warren, but that’s when the family says the alleged teen victim got involved and started cursing and circling them on his bike.
Everything came to a head, her lawyers argue, as the boy shouted “My daddy’s rich,” and started peddling straight for Warren and her group.
Warren reached out with the “palms of her hands” and touched the boy on the bike, her lawyers said. He lost his balance while she fell to ground, breaking her purse string and a shoe in the process.
Steven Warren, the attorneys said, tried to get an onsite security guard to intervene, but the guard refused to act and is seen in video looking at his cellphone when the assault happens behind him.
A deputy who reviewed the video said Warren shoved the boy with “such force that the victim is seen falling backwards and being forced to get off his bike so he does not lose his balance.” Warren is also accused of throwing her glass of wine on the teen.
Other footage shows Harrell standing over the boy and punching him repeatedly in the face “with such force you can hear contact being made in the footage, the arresting officer said.
After several people yelled at Harrell to stop and one of the boys shouted out the boy was a minor, Harrell ended the assault.
“’Then quit talking s....t,’” Harrell shouted to the boys. “’Stop f......g talking.’”
Deputies said the assault left the boy with a swollen and bruised face along with cuts, bleeding and bruising on one of his legs. The boy said he also likely suffered a concussion because he briefly lost consciousness when Harrell started punching him.
Attorneys cite ‘stand your ground’ law
In court filings, Jamie Warren’s attorneys maintain Warren should have never been arrested because under the state’s “stand your ground” law she was acting to prevent an attack she believed could result in death or serious injury.
They also say Jamie Warren did not injure the boy. She felt like the boy was trying to ram his bike into her or her family and friends and meant to hurt them, her attorneys say.
The Warren family said they tried repeatedly to get away from the boy, while he says that he was attacked because the Warren party felt he was riding his bike too close to them.
Under Florida state law, someone is justified in using threat or force, with the exception of deadly force, against another when they are not engaged in an unlawful act and “reasonably” believe it is necessary to use such force or threats to prevent injuries, death or serious bodily harm to themselves and others or to prevent a felony offense from occurring.
The law protects those who legally use the self-defense law from facing any civil or criminal action.
Both Warren and Harrell have pleaded not guilty to the charges. Warren has a pretrial hearing on Oct. 22, and Harrell’s hearing is Nov. 19.
School superintendent responds
Deputies arrested Jamie Warren and Harrell shortly after the encounter.
After the incident went viral on social media, the Sun Herald reached out to Gulfport School District Superintendent Glenn East to see if the district had been receiving calls about it.
East said he had not and that Warren had done many great things for the community and the school system over the years.
As for the incident in Florida, he said, “That is something that Mr. Warren and his family will have to deal with.”
This story was originally published September 1, 2020 at 5:50 AM.
