A Lady Lake woman has been sentenced to 10 days in jail for encouraging juveniles to attack a boy at a recreation center last year.
Charity Lashay Nelams, 32, was found guilty of contributing to delinquency of a minor or dependency of a minor at her court date this past week in Lake County Court. She was ordered to serve 10 days in the Lake County Jail.
On May 13, 2024, an officer with the Leesburg Police Department responded to the Leesburg Recreation Complex, located on Griffin Road, about a large group of juveniles fighting, according to an affidavit of probable cause out of Lake County. The officer spoke with a mother who stated multiple juveniles attacked her son.
Her juvenile son described an altercation among himself and two other juveniles that escalated from verbal to physical, all with the encouragement of Nelams. She stood nearby as about 15 to 20 more minors got involved, hitting the juvenile with closed fists and kicking him. He tried to run several times until unrelated adults intervened and stopped the incident.
A relative of the juvenile described Nelams as aggressive. She made numerous remarks about being willing to “put her hands on” anyone who intervened, and she was willing to go to jail for one of the juveniles. However, when interviewed by law enforcement, she claimed she was there trying to break up the fight and tried talking one of the juveniles into leaving.
During the investigation, a video taken on a phone during the altercation showed Nelams instructing children where to stand to create a circle around the juveniles involved in the fight. She also behaved in a belligerent manner and escalated the altercation. She cheered and encouraged the fight as it went on.