A Virginia middle school girl could be sent to juvenile hall after she threw a baby carrot at one of her former teachers in what school documents have classified as an assault and battery case.
The incident occurred Sept. 21 when Aliya Nigro, 13, had reportedly left class at George Moody Middle School and saw a teacher she had last year in the hallway. As a joke, she decided to reach for a carrot she had in her pocket and throw it at the teacher's forehead, never expecting it would hit the teacher on her forehead, according to CBS Virginia affiliate WTVR.
The carrot was measured to be 2 inches long and apparently did enough damage to be regarded as a weapon. Nigro soon learned that there were charges filed against her before being suspended from school. She currently resides at home where she is awaiting her trial.
"I don't even know how to combat the stupidity," said Aliya's mother Karrie May.
"I don't understand this," May continued, according to Newser. "Yes, it happened, and I can see a couple of days in school detention or even a couple days out-of-school suspension. But this goes way beyond that. We have to go to court, and her charges aren't small: assault and battery with a weapon."
WTRV's legal expert notes the hardness of the veggie projectile could be a key factor in the case.
"If it's a soft carrot, it may not be as offensive," said CBS 6 legal expert Todd Stone, according to the New York Post. "But if it's a raw carrot, you don't have to have an injury or show you were hurt to prove a battery. It just has to be an offensive, vindictive touch. That's what the law says."
Henrico Schools declined to comment on the carrot case.
"This could go before a judge and there could be sufficient evidence to find her guilty, but I don't think it's something a judge would want to find her guilty of," Stone added. "They may offer her counseling, sort of a carrot at the end of a stick."
Nigro reiterated there was no malice involved and that the thrown carrot was meant to be a prank.
"It was just bad aim and bad judgment in the situation. I'm obviously sorry," she said.
