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Mother guilty in school bus fight
Woman who tells of inciting girls who "go a-tumblin" now tumbles toward a sentencing date.
By COLLEEN JENKINS, Times Staff Writer
Published September 19, 2007
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Shayla Muldrow looks back at her daughter as she leaves the courtroom.
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[Ken Helle | Times]
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[Ken Helle | Times]
Shayla Muldrow testified in her defense during her trial for trespass and contributing to the delinquency of a minor in Judge John Conrad's courtroom in Tampa. Muldrow is the mom accused of taking her daughter onto a school bus and ordering her to fight another child.
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TAMPA -- Shayla Muldrow, chewing gum and dressed in a blazer on the witness stand, recalled the March morning she boarded her daughters' school bus.
She wasn't planning trouble, she said. She just wanted to put an end to the bullying her 9-year-old daughter had been experiencing on bus rides to and from Booker T. Washington Elementary School.
"I wanted to talk it out," Muldrow said Tuesday. "You don't have to solve your problems by fighting."
A good idea, in theory. But anyone who has seen the March 2 videotape from Bus No. 3866 knows that's not how things worked out.
Muldrow, 26, helped her daughter shed her backpack -- "I'm not going to let her fight with her book bag on," she testified -- and instructed her to "handle it" with the 10-year-old girl who had slapped her daughter two days before.
"They go a-tumblin,'" said Muldrow, who blew a bubble on the stand. "I stepped out of the way and just watched."
She watched again Tuesday afternoon as six jurors filed into the courtroom after 90 minutes of deliberation and declared her guilty of misdemeanor charges of trespassing and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
County Judge John Conrad will sentence Muldrow on Thursday morning. She faces up to two years in county jail.
She has been there before, having accumulated 15 arrests before the March 2 bus incident, which was broadcast across the country.
She also spent a day in jail Sept. 5 after being arrested on new charges of driving with a suspended or revoked license and for attaching improper tags to her vehicle.
Her attorneys argued Tuesday that the case of the bus confrontation was a "rush to judgment."
They depicted their client as a concerned parent who had tired of her daughter getting pushed around after two months on the bus. Even the substitute driver for the route testified that he had complained to his superiors on multiple occasions about the rowdiness of its riders.
On Feb. 28, Muldrow's 9-year-old came home "screaming crying," she said.
A girl had slapped her across the cheek. Muldrow decided to escort her daughter onto the bus two days later.
The video camera at the front of the bus captured the scene that unfolded. Before jurors saw the video, Muldrow's attorneys admitted it wasn't easy to watch.
"First of all, where's the girl who slapped my girl?" Muldrow asked as she boarded the bus behind her two daughters.
A 10-year-old in the back raised her hand.
An argument ensued. Children yelled, and Muldrow yelled back.
The girl from the back of the bus testified Tuesday that she heard Muldrow tell her daughter "to come hit me." The girl, now 11, walked to the witness stand with her finger in her mouth and her Dora the Explorer book bag on her back. She spoke so softly that the judge had to ask her multiple times to talk louder.
She admitted she had hit Muldrow's daughter before but looked confused when Assistant Public Defender Brent Selph questioned her using legal terms such as "deposition," "sworn testimony," and "the state."
Muldrow's attorneys characterized the child as the aggressor. They blamed the bus driver for letting the situation get out of hand.
"It's an awful scene," Assistant Public Defender Cordel Batchelor said. "It's shocking. It shouldn't have happened. And Muldrow didn't intend for this to happen."
Muldrow said so herself on the video as she walked toward the front of the bus after the fight. Then she turned back around and continued yelling at the children who yelled at her.
Colleen Jenkins can be reached at cjenkins@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3337.
[Last modified September 19, 2007, 00:00:48]
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Comments on this article
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by LAN8TV
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10/25/07 07:56 PM
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The second picture of Ms. Muldrow is very telling. My first impression of the pic without knowing the story; I would have assumed she was some type of professional! She cleans up really well!!
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by Tricey
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10/07/07 12:31 PM
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She was immature and stupid to get on the bus and make her daughter fight. You can tell from her actions that she has not home training her self. She should have took her daughter to school the very next day and talk to the prinicipal & not wait 2 da
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by Laura
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09/23/07 02:28 PM
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This woman was trying to raise three kids on one salary alone, is overstressed, immature, and not properly trained up herself. And this makes her a criminal? Putting her in prison is an expedient, political move--like most jail sentences, a bandaid.
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by Nicky
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09/20/07 05:29 PM
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Well I think she did right by making her daughter learn how to take up for herself.Kids need to learn that bullying is not okay. I would not have stepped on the school bus though she should of known that was a no-no. And her kids should stay w/her...
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by Toni
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09/20/07 03:03 PM
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Chris that was too funny (the O.J. thing), but she should have talked to the bus driver and the school the very next day her child came home and said that she had been hit. You Just can't walk up on the bus all willy nilly!
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by tia
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09/20/07 09:35 AM
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She is just a mother who got tired of the bullying..What would you have done in this situation. now a days kids have to fight to either become friends or better friends.
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by Sarah
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09/20/07 08:57 AM
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Schools should get tough and DO SOMETHING before it comes to this! WHAT will it take for them to realize how bad it is for kids? Schools should go to the following website so they can learn what to do!
http://www.stopratoday.com
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by John
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09/20/07 01:36 AM
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This incident shows the really face of america now. This is a typical reaction now. No self-restraint, No fore-thought of a future reaction. No use of reason...people in the usa are rapidly becoming animals and ill-tempered barbarians.
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by Connie
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09/19/07 04:04 PM
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I cannot believe some of you are defending what this woman did! what kind of a citzen do you think will result from this kind of learning experience??? Mom needs parenting classes!! & FG, you are just WRONG!
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by Marcia
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09/19/07 03:55 PM
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I worked for Pinellas schools for thirty years. I am now retired and do not miss one day of parents like this one, and believe me there are a lot of parents who really believe their children do no wrong.
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by Melanie
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09/19/07 03:07 PM
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Some are being too harsh to say just take away her kids. Most parents offer this kind of retaliation. The only difference is we say it in our own homes. "If she hits you go punch her back." She deserves to be punished but some are being excessive.
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by Chris
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09/19/07 02:28 PM
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OJ...uh,I mean this lady needs to do time.
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by Maggie
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09/19/07 02:27 PM
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I always say our children are a reflection of us, the parents. Well this is a great example!!! No wonder kids have no respect for rules or the law. Parents should learn to work out problems through the proper channels.
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by fg
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09/19/07 02:13 PM
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At the end of the day ..this mother saw her child crying and was enraged!!! as any other mother would be ...only she went to far. Take it for what it is. Doesn't mean she's is now the "Antichrist". you are all overeacting.
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by Ann
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09/19/07 01:09 PM
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Society is so quick to judge when the shoe is on the other foot. The court system will do the right thing. They let a parent experience what happens when you react without thinking. Small minds don't think,and regret it after. A lesson will be learn.
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by sej
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09/19/07 01:02 PM
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There was a bully who made my life a living _ell.My mom & dad contacted the school,even went to talk to the mom & got no help.So the girl was gonna hit me with a stick in front of my mom,my mom said enough!We fought a fair fight & that ended that!
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by K
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09/19/07 12:53 PM
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Terrible situation for her daughter:yes, Right way to handle it:ABSOLUTELY NOT! Maria, get a clue....
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by Awesum
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09/19/07 12:44 PM
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Training is everything.It is my prayer not to take the child from mom by bars.If a school teacher can kill a child and leave the scene without prison, then Ms. Muldrow, a parent can be taught better parenting, bus/court behavior. Jail hurts the kid.
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by Gilbert
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09/19/07 12:41 PM
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It is obvious that this woman has the REAL problem and not the child. Sentence please!!!
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by Dr_Dug
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09/19/07 12:32 PM
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Typical Thug..Blowing gum bubbles in Court..saying one thing while acting out another. If That was my child, according to her ideas,would enable me to confront her ass and whoop it !!.. Send her to Jail..Protect our society!!!
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by Maraynn
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09/19/07 12:16 PM
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Don't understand why the judge didn't have Shayla remove her gum. This seems like a disrespect to the court system.
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by Deborah
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09/19/07 12:15 PM
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Had Muldrow gone to the school? Filed a written complaint with the school? Made a police report? Make any effort to involve the child's parents? All of the above would be the lawful way of handling the situation. 26 with 15 arrests doesn't look good!
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by ME
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09/19/07 11:51 AM
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Judge needs to send her be a BETTER MOM and Aduld!cant take the Mom out of THE HOOD.But He needs to show her some CLASS.It was no class got her on the BUS.
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by Bud
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09/19/07 11:23 AM
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Cabesa de melon
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by GM
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09/19/07 11:15 AM
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Someone needs to "slap" her! Geeez!
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by mike
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09/19/07 11:07 AM
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The daughter has an unfit mother.The bus driver shouldn't have let her on the bus.The daughter is going to complete the cycle and be just like her mother.This is an example of how people in poverty, stay in poverty.
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by Andy
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09/19/07 11:03 AM
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I miss teaching.
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by Jim
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09/19/07 10:49 AM
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Another great example of our tax money being used to defend an idiot. Her child needs to be taken away and she needs to go back to jail. 15 prior arrests. What a joke.
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by fg
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09/19/07 10:43 AM
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There are a gazillion other ways she could have handled this .... but NOoooo!!!! She chose the Route, that puts you in the newspaper. Being a vigilante is not the answer.
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by zippy
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09/19/07 10:37 AM
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Use your head Maria and caps are not necessary.
If talking to the bus driver did no good then follow the chain upward.
That women was a joke and made a mockery of herself. Thugs raising thugs wohoooo.
I dare anyone to be a busdriver for a day.
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by Clifford
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09/19/07 10:37 AM
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Unbelievable, I'm surprised the judge didn't ask her to get rid of the gum or hold her in contempt. Sound like Maria is another parent that needs some jail time - she almost makes a threat that she will do the same thing.
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by Pat
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09/19/07 10:21 AM
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She is typical, thinks she can get away with anything.. needs some serious jail time, what a terrible example for her daughter.
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by ms
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09/19/07 10:17 AM
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Chewing gum in court, blowing a bubble on the stand, past arrest record and jail time. No respect for the courts, the law or others. Send her to prison for the full 2 years. Please Judge do the right thing this time.
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by MARIA
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09/19/07 10:07 AM
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WHAT AS PARENTS DO PEOPLE WANT US TO DO IF WE TELL OUR KIDS TO TELL THE ADULT AND THE ADULT DOESNT HANDLE THE SITUATION. SHE HAD USED THE PROPER CHANNELS AND GOT NO RESPONSE. I WOULD HAVE DONE THE SAME THING FOR MY DAUGHTER AS WOULD HER FATHER.
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by Sherry
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09/19/07 09:11 AM
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Why did a bus driver allow anyone
who was NOT a student or school staff
board the bus?
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News
Fifty years ago, they were screwed-up kids sent to the Florida School for Boys to be straightened out. But now they are screwed-up men, scarred by the whippings they endured. Read the story and see a video and portrait gallery.
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