11-year-old girl faces charges after Miami Beach middle school cafeteria attack: "This was a beat down"

An 11-year-old girl charged with second-degree felony aggravated battery appeared in a Miami courtroom following an attack at Nautilus Middle School that was captured on cellphone video.

Under Florida law, children as young as 7 years old can face charges for certain offenses, including felonies, although their cases are generally handled through the juvenile justice system rather than adult criminal court.

The incident, which took place Sept. 24 in the school's cafeteria, shows the victim being repeatedly struck. The victim's mother reported that her daughter suffered head injuries, including a scalp laceration.

During the court hearing, a judge ordered the suspect to have no contact with the victim, including on social media platforms. The suspect's mother informed the court that she had removed her daughter from the school, citing a lack of administrative support. Because the suspect's family was determined to be "indigent" by her mother's testimony, a public defender was appointed to handle the case. Trial is scheduled for Dec. 21.

Emotional scenes followed the hearing as the victim's mother broke down in tears outside the courtroom.

"This is a kid who is 11 years old. This is what upsets me," she said. "We need to stop violence in schools. Please help me stop the violence in schools. Our life has been turned upside down. I am hurt."

She added that the attack was filmed by the suspect's cousin and was premeditated, allegedly stemming from a disagreement over her daughter organizing a cheerleading group.

The victim's family has retained attorney Gina Raijman of the firm 305 Hurt and is evaluating legal action against the Miami-Dade County School Board.

"She was pulled by the hair and thrown to the ground. This was a beat down," Raijman said, alleging that school administration was aware of the impending conflict and failed to protect the student.

In response, Miami-Dade County Public Schools issued a statement asserting that staff had met with the students involved prior to the altercation to de-escalate tensions.

"When the situation occurred, school administration and Miami-Dade schools responded immediately," the district stated. "The matter was addressed in accordance with the code of student conduct and referred to law enforcement."

Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Rafael Villalobos told CBS News Miami that the incident was unacceptable.

"At the end of the day, we don't want children to be violent," he said. "We want to teach them to communicate, and if they have concerns, to reach out to an adult and work through it. We have interventions that take place in school every day. We have counselors who are trained for that and teachers who are trained for that and administrators who understand the process very well."

Villalobos added that officials aim to address issues early.

"No matter how small the situation is, we want to address that so it does not become a big situation," he said. "We will address this at the highest code of student conduct."

Addressing the school's layout, Villalobos noted the challenges in large facilities.

"Schools are pretty big places. Nautilus is very big, and so where it was, we didn't see what was going on, and once they were made aware, they immediately went in the direction of the fight," he said. "Unfortunately, it took longer than we would like. It wasn't too long when you think about it in seconds and minutes, but it was too long, as I am concerned at this point."