Jessica Anderson Charged in Kindergarten Graduation Fight in Toledo
A kindergarten graduation fight at Queens of the Apostles School in Toledo, Ohio, turned violent while parents argued over seating. Police said one woman was arrested and another person was hospitalized after the disturbance.
Jessica Anderson was identified by police as the woman charged with felonious assault. Court records said she grabbed someone by the hair and struck her head against a chair, leaving the person with stitches to her head.
Craig Mays at Queens of the Apostles
Parent Craig Mays said children were downstairs rehearsing when adults began arguing about seats. He said one family started to grab their own chairs and make their own seating space, then described the woman behind him as cussing, calling them weird and telling them to mind their business.
“There was another family who started to grab their own chairs and kind of like make their own space and make their own seating. Which I really didn’t have a problem with but my kid’s mom, they were right in front of her and she couldn’t see,” Mays said. He said the exchange escalated before his daughter graduated.
Jessica Anderson and the Assault Charge
Mays said Anderson and he went back and forth before her family jumped him. He said he was sucker punched and then attacked on the ground by several people, while his child's mother was grabbed by the hair and trampled by several women. Mays said he is a kindergarten teacher and could not watch his daughter graduate that day.
“... her whole family in the first two rows stood up - five guys, five girls - they just all stand up as I’m arguing with Jessica. I literally don’t remember anything, I just know was sucker punched,” Mays said. He also said, “Once I was taken it to the round, it was probably four or five other guys that were on top of me trampoline me punching me. You kick me in the head.”
Queens of the Apostles Graduation
The school had not announced when it would reschedule the graduation. The disruption left families unable to watch the children walk across the stage, and it turned a school ceremony into a police matter before the day was over.
“So, being at another school’s kindergarten graduation, I know how hard those kids work. I know how hard those teachers work for us just to ruin it and be selfish like that and it breaks my heart. I couldn’t watch my daughter graduate today,” Mays said.
