Girl beaten on Florida school bus’s brother also attacked

February 9, 2023

A Florida mother whose 9-year-old daughter was viciously beaten by a 15-year-old boy aboard her school bus is pleading for justice after a new video emerged of her son also getting mercilessly hit — just a week before.

Jenni Berrios, 30, has vowed to pursue charges against the teen and another boy who pummeled her daughter on the bus from Coconut Palm K-8 Academy in Homestead on Feb. 1 and also shared new footage of her 10-year-old son being beaten while riding the same bus.

The brief but disturbing new video shows the boy cowering into a seat while one of his peers repeatedly punches him.

Berrios told the Daily Mail the assault on her son occurred one week before his sister was victimized.

Jenni, a young woman, pictured during a news interview. She is gesturing with her fists, showing how her daughter was beaten. — Jenni Berrios, the victims’ mother, is demanding justice for her kids.

“We have been [at the school] just a little more than a month, and this is just devastating,” Berrios explained, noting the family only recently moved out of a homeless shelter and into an apartment in the school district.

The mother of four said her son had tried to defend his sister from a cafeteria bully the same day she was attacked.

The school called her about the incident, but she was unable to pick up her children because her husband had their car at work.

A video still shows one boy leaning over another on a school bus bench seat. The boy on the left is flailing his fists and that bow on the right, who is curled up, trying to deflect the hits. — Berrios has shared footage from another video that shows her son being punched repeatedly.

The altercation subsequently spilled over to the bus after school, where her daughter was beaten by a 15-year-old who Berrios claims is the older brother of the cafeteria bully.

“We have had to get my daughter another appointment with the concussion department, but it is a real struggle because they are booked for the year,” Berrios shared of the girl’s recovery.

Images shared with the media show both children with red scuffs and bruises.

A teenager pouncing on a little girl in a video still. — The video of Berrios’ daughter showed the younger girl being pummeled by an older student.

“[My daughter] has constant headaches, a lot of nausea. She is not herself and she is not sleeping a lot which could be linked back to the emotional trauma she has suffered,” Berrios continued.

Both children are being homeschooled in the aftermath of the assaults.

“My husband has been forced to miss work and he doesn’t get personal time off but he obviously wants to be there for our kids,” Berrios lamented.

Jenni's four children. Their faces are blurred. — Berrios and her husband have four children.

The teen responsible for the attack on Berrios’ daughter was initially slapped with a civil citation but later charged with criminal battery in juvenile court this week.

“As a mother, I feel for [the teen’s family]. Their own child is facing charges, but a lesson has to be learned and responsibility has to be taken,” she reasoned.

“My daughter has so much life left to live, for this to happen to her. Justice does need to be served because this happened to both of my children. We are hoping that people can learn a lesson from this worldwide.

“It is very sad how we have just overcome one thing, and another thing like this comes up right away. We are just here trying to be a happy family. Despite everything, that is what the kids deserve.”

Jenni during a news interview. — Berrios said she feels for the family of the boy who attacker her daughter.

The looming medical and legal fees, Berrios admitted, are putting the family of six “back into a hard situation.”

Amid their struggle, however, the family has found unexpected support from the Cuban musical artists El Micha and El Chacal, who saw the attack footage and reached out to help.

According to the Daily Mail, the duo have since paid the family’s rent for the next three months upfront and purchased several new toys for the kids.

They are also offering to help Berrios’ children use a private bus service to help them transition back to school.

“One of the [artist’s] kids themselves were bullied because they came from Cuba and they didn’t speak the language,” their manager, Diego Vizcon, told the outlet.

A still of the attack on Jenni's son. He is cowering away from another boy, who is hitting him. — Berrios’ son, pictured in the video still above, on the right, and daughter are both being homeschooled.

“We just wanted to give them our support using our platform and really make people notice … what’s going on.”

The singers are also reportedly collaborating on an anti-bullying song, for which they will produce a video so that fans “really get the message.”

“Kids go to school to learn; they shouldn’t be scared to go. And we want to try to help and think of ways that we can diminish the bullying,” Vizcon stated.

Berrios, for her part, said she was “so thankful” for the pair’s assistance.

“'[It’s] unfortunate that something bad [had] to happen for something good to come of it,” she noted.