VIDEO: LaKesha Graves and Her Son Attacked by Group of Kids in Maryland

LaKesha Graves and her son were attacked by a group of juveniles in Cambridge, Maryland — an incident now drawing community concern and renewed conversations about juvenile justice reform.

Graves shared a screen recording from a news segment covering the attack, writing:
“This screen recording is from a news clip that aired tonight. I will be posting the whole video and talking about this incident in depth shortly. We need juvenile reform. With a little less to lose, this could have turned out much differently!” She included hashtags such as #juvenilejustice, #juvenile, #cambridgemd, and #Maryland.

Details of the Attack

In recent weeks, Graves and her daughters have been dealing with the aftermath of the assault. According to information provided to authorities, a group of students boarded a school bus that was not assigned to them and then attacked Graves and her children.

Graves later described the moment the violence escalated:
“And then a 12-year-old rushes me, and then her friends follow up, and the boy punches my daughter in her face twice. And, you know, from there you see them dragging me across the field by my hair…”

Police and School Officials Respond

Cambridge Police Chief Justin Todd confirmed that four of the juveniles involved were referred to Juvenile Services. The remaining children, he noted, were too young to receive referrals. Speaking to WMDT, Chief Todd highlighted a troubling trend:

“We’ve seen juveniles escalate from assaults to vehicle thefts, to robberies and homicides. We’ve seen it right here in our local community. And I think we’re going to continue to see it until we see a difference and a change.”

Graves has since met with Chief Todd and Dorchester County Superintendent of Schools Dr. Jymil Thompson to address the incident and discuss broader steps to curb youth violence.

Still, she remains stunned by what happened.
“I was flabbergasted that children would even approach an adult, let alone assault them. I was not expecting that in any way, shape or form.”