December 9, 2025
The mother says the girl hit her son multiple times before he retaliated.
The mother of a middle schooler in Metro Atlanta is speaking out after a video revealed her son body slamming a female classmate.
The video shows the student at Snellville Middle School seemingly flipping the girl into several desks before he walked out of the classroom. As news outlets received the footage, the mother of the boy spoke out against the assumption that her son started the violence.
Adrianna Cotton told 11Alive that the girl actually started the physical altercation. Additional footage showed the girl in question smacking Cotton’s son, Derek, after he touched her hair. The slap seemingly prompted him to pick her up and throw her over some desks and chairs.
Cotton explained that the girl proceeded to slap and hit her son multiple times before he became fed up and reacted.
“I guess it was a slap in the face the first time,” said Cotton about the incident.” Something was said, and after that, he just scrolled on his phone. It happened a few more times where she hit him repeatedly.”
The upset mother added, “The part of the video that I showed you was the last slap that she did before he finally retaliated.”
However, the news outlet also spoke to the female student for her recount of the incident. Her family also gave the news outlet part of the footage. Their clips show Cotton’s son slamming her into the ground.
The girl, named Paradise Muhammad, asserted that she did not slap the boy multiple times to spark his response. While she denies hitting the boy first, others say that his retaliation did not match the assault.
When asked whether her son had taken things too far, Cotton responded, “Absolutely not.”
“And I say that because I teach my girls to keep their hands to their selves,” she added. “If they were to hit a male, you know, expect to get hit back like one. “That’s how I was raised. “
The mother continued, “And when it comes to my men, my young boys becoming men… If a female [puts] their hands on you, and you have all right to defend yourself. [But] don’t hit them back because you can seriously hurt them. Restrain them, somehow, someway, and then walk away.”
She further asserted that her son did precisely that. Both families differ on how the situation came about. However, they both agreed that a teacher or an adult should have prevented the situation from escalating.
The middle schooler and the Gwinnett County School District both confirmed that a teacher was present in the room at the time.
RELATED CONTENT: Fulton County Under ‘Domestic Violence Epidemic’ With Nearly 1,000 Cases In Metro Atlanta
