21-year-old suspect arrested for attacking 13-year-old girl on Denton ISD school bus
DENTON – Denton police have arrested a woman they say was caught on camera assaulting a teenager on a school bus last month.
Traveonna Mays, 21, turned herself into the City of Denton jail Thursday morning after police issued an arrest warrant for injury to a child, a third-degree felony. A Denton County magistrate judge set bond at $7,500.
Denton Police described Mays as "the sister of an involved party" in the incident.
According to the victim, a 13-year-old girl, another girl at Bettye Myers Middle School had been threatening her earlier in the day. She says she didn't know the girl and alerted both a counselor and assistant principal about the threats.
Later in the day, she says the girl attacked her on the school bus. At one point, cell phone video shows two adult females board the bus.
The victim, who we have been calling "Nicole" to protect her identity, says she later learned that the women were the mother and sister of the girl who attacked her.
Nicole says the women followed the school bus to her stop and attacked her again. Other cell phone video shows the bus driver pulling away as Nicole is being hit and kicked on the ground behind it.
The mother of the victim told CBS News Texas that she was pleased to hear of the arrest, but that she and her daughter want "both women arrested."
"I could be a parent planning funeral arrangements if they would have had a weapon and got on a bus with a knife or a gun," she said last week.
Denton school officials responded to CBS News Texas with a statement saying in part "This horrible video depicts unacceptable conduct Denton ISD never condones, including an adult unlawfully boarding a school bus."
The district said both women have been "criminally trespassed" and are no longer allowed on any Denton ISD school property. In addition, the school bus driver has been given additional training, and the student who initiated the attack will not be returning to the campus.
Nicole, who says she wants to become a teacher one day, said that after speaking out, she returned to campus to be met with additional harassment from students who called her a "snitch" and "rat" for her efforts to hold the women accountable.
"I wish that for anybody that saw the video and that thinks that it was okay for them to hurt me. I want you to know that you're wrong, because it wasn't," she said.
District officials now say they are making special accommodations to make sure Nicole feels safe at school for the remainder of the year. She is allowed to leave a classroom or hallway at any time and come to the office to remove herself from any situation where she feels uncomfortable.
Her mother has confirmed the support but says both she and her daughter want a fresh start. She says she can't afford to move right now and finally relented to suggestions that she start a GoFundMe effort to raise enough money to move closer to family.
"When I saw the videos, to see grown women beat my child, assault my child that way," she said, fighting back tears. "It was heartbreaking... because what normal grown person fights a kid?"
