Collier County teen assaulted after leaving party

Melissa McMurray and her husband Andrew are calling for justice after their 17-year-old son was attacked this month while leaving a party in Collier County.

The teen has been charged and the sheriff’s office said they’re aware that many believe felony charges are in order, but under Florida law, there are very specific criteria that must be met for felony charges to be filed.

“It didn’t take long before we started to get people sending videos, some kids had shared them with their parents. And then others just sent them anonymously or just sent them to us in general,” said Melissa McMurray.

McMurray said before the attack, her son was accused of “door dinging” a car, but there was no damage.

“We also have video before the assault even happened. So the individuals friends, and others began to film the situation before the assault even occurred, which leads us to believe that it was a planned attack,” Andrew McMurray explained.

Videos of their son getting assaulted is all over social media.There’s also a video after the fight, where the teen accused of attacking their son is celebrating the beat down.

“It’s really hard to watch the videos,” McMurray added. “And knowing that it’s your son makes it nearly impossible to watch. I think right now, publicly, everybody has seen the video of the kid posting his celebration. I think if parents in the community actually saw what we’ve seen in what their kids and other kids have filmed and observed, they would be beyond disgusted.”

According to the Collier County Sheriff’s report, their son also told deputies the suspect grabbed him around the neck in a reverse headlock until he became lightheaded.

“I just question how an individual can go into a restaurant in public, literally covered in in blood, while people are cheering while people are cheering and that nobody there thought, wow, this is pretty disgusting. We should something happen. We should call the police,” Melissa said.

The victim’s parents said the misdemeanor battery charges are insulting, that it should be a felony, and they don’t understand what more needs to be done to prove great bodily harm.

We are aware of videos circulating on social media depicting an altercation between juveniles that took place July 16 in Collier County. We can confirm that at this time a juvenile has been charged with misdemeanor battery in connection with this encounter.

We are also aware that many who have viewed these videos believe felony charges are in order. Under Florida law, which we must follow, there are very specific criteria that must be met for felony charges to be filed.

The Collier County Sheriff’s Office released the following statement:

The investigation is still ongoing and has included interviews with witnesses, an examination of the victim’s medical records relating to treatment of his injuries and a review of evidence including video evidence. Our detectives, as well as the State Attorney’s Office, will continue to review the investigation and evidence updates to ensure that the most applicable charges allowed under Florida law are filed.