'She Was Being a Bully to Him, That's It': Mother of East Harlem Stomping Boy Defends Son After Viral Attack

The mother of the 14-year-old boy arrested for body-slamming and stomping on a teenage girl's head in East Harlem has publicly defended her son, insisting the victim was the one doing the bullying. Selma Allen spoke to reporters after her son's appearance at Manhattan juvenile court on Thursday, where he was remanded into custody following his arrest on assault charges.

Allen's account stands in direct contradiction to what is visible in the widely circulated footage, which shows her son blocking the 15-year-old girl in a crosswalk near East 107th Street and Third Avenue on 20 April, moments before he lifted her and slammed her onto the pavement before stomping on her head.

'He's Been Complaining About Her'

'She was being a bully to him, that's it,' Allen said following her son's court appearance. 'He's been complaining about her. I bring it to the principal's attention but he don't address it. The way my son is being bullied, he doesn't want to go to school.'

Allen described her son as a 'quiet' boy who 'doesn't provoke nobody,' and also disputed that he had been trying to obtain the girl's phone number. She claimed the two were already acquainted and regularly communicated through Instagram and WhatsApp. She further alleged that the victim had shoved her son moments before the video began, calling the assault 'retaliation because she pushed him first.' Allen claimed to have additional footage supporting that account but had not produced it at the time of reporting.

Victim's Mother Demands Justice

The victim's mother, Lucinda Arroyo, told the New York Post a starkly different story. She said her daughter, a ninth-grade student-athlete at East Harlem Scholars Academy Charter School, had been heading to squash practice when the attack occurred.

'This is not even bullying, this is outright assault — and he could have killed her,' Arroyo said. She added that the attack left her daughter with a concussion, bleeding, a potential brain injury, crushing headaches and a twisted neck, injuries that are expected to require ongoing physical therapy. The girl was hospitalised for two days and, according to her mother, is only now able to walk and eat again.

'She's very upset that her whole life has been completely flipped upside down right now,' Arroyo said. 'I look at her and it's a miracle that she's home. I'm always watching her now, I have to watch her.'

Boy Remanded, Case Heads to Family Court

The 14-year-old suspect was remanded into custody following his Thursday juvenile court appearance and is expected to have his case proceed through family court. The incident took place on 20 April at around 15:39 at the corner of East 107th Street and Third Avenue, shortly after schools let out for the day.

The video, which had amassed over one million views on Instagram, shows the boy in all-black clothing and a face mask confronting the girl, grabbing her arm and ordering her to 'stand right here' as she repeatedly tried to move away. A voice off-camera can be heard urging him on before he slammed her to the ground and stomped on her head.

Youth violence in New York City public spaces has drawn growing scrutiny from child welfare advocates and city officials alike. Cases involving juveniles caught on video in street assaults raise urgent questions not only about individual accountability but also about the role schools and communities play in preventing escalation. The conflicting accounts from both families reflect a broader challenge in addressing interpersonal conflicts among young people before they turn violent.