13-year-old girl allegedly mobbed by parents, beaten by student in caught-on-video altercation at NY high school

A group of parents, inciting a classmate, mobbed a 13-year-old Montessori student, an incident that was caught on video outside the Yonkers school last week, according to legal papers.

Now, the teenager’s mother, Alenna Merritt, has withdrawn her daughter from Yonkers Montessori Academy and submitted a legal notice of claim to the city of Yonkers, indicating her intention to sue for $40 million due to alleged negligent supervision.

“I felt confused and scared—they kept yelling in my face,” the teen shared with The Post during a phone interview with her, her mother, and lawyer. “When I got attacked, I was feeling alone and scared because nobody was there to help me.”

Merritt’s daughter, identified as E.W. to protect her identity, was surrounded by four parents and a grandparent of other students on the school's baseball field at 7:20 a.m. on April 18, according to the mother, the claim, and video evidence from three phones.

The family’s lawyer, Mark Shirian, noted from the video that the group targeted E.W. due to her association with a friend whom they were seeking. As the friend was absent, E.W. became the target of their aggression.

The parents can be heard in the footage shouting and using profanities at E.W. before another student assaults her physically while the parents watch. E.W. tries to defend herself by retaliating.

E.W. “was left unsupervised” and “violently assaulted on the premises of Yonkers Montessori Academy by students and parents and relatives of current students, during school hours,” the notice of claim filed with the city of Yonkers states.

The teen “was viciously assaulted, beaten, and as a result has sustained severe physical, emotional, and psychological injuries,” the document reads, indicating the intent to sue a municipal agency.

Merritt, 42, of Yonkers, confirmed that she is also pressing charges against the adults involved. After reviewing cell phone videos with the police, who responded to the school that day, they identified adults attacking her daughter and have issued a warrant for at least one arrest.

A representative for the Yonkers Police Department and Yonkers Public Schools confirmed that police issued an arrest warrant for Nancy Rosa, 55, on charges of third-degree assault, second-degree harassment, and endangering the welfare of a child. Rosa is not an employee of the schools, the representative clarified.

The investigation is ongoing, the representative added, refraining from commenting on the possibility of further arrests.

Merritt recalled receiving a distressing call from her daughter around 7:30 a.m. that day, shortly after she had boarded the school bus. “I had my child screaming on the phone, screaming that she was hit...and I couldn’t even fathom it,” said Merritt, an executive director at a daycare center.

Merritt mentioned that her daughter is now receiving remote schooling from a tutor, provided by Yonkers Montessori Academy, for the remaining approximately 40 days of the school year. She stated that she wouldn’t consider sending E.W. back to the school, fearing for her safety.

E.W. has already secured admission to a private all-girls catholic school for the next academic year.

This incident follows a prior notice of claim against the same school in January, alleging that staff sexually harassed E.W. by asking her to pull her bra and shake her breasts, suspecting she had a vape hidden.

Merritt expressed concern about the lack of supervision and protection for children in the school. She stated, “I’m not going to put her in harm’s way and put her in the lion’s den every day.”

Merritt and her lawyer Shirian questioned whether school security and staff deliberately did not intervene in the fight last week in response to the pending claim against the school.

Shirian emphasized that Merritt and her daughter are “rightfully traumatized by this ordeal” and urged the school to take swift and decisive action to address the situation and prevent such incidents in the future.

“This egregious failure to ensure the safety of students is utterly unacceptable,” Shirian stated.

He mentioned that his clients may consider legal action against the involved parents as well, although likely after the conclusion of the criminal investigation and any resulting cases.

The latest notice of claim cites negligent supervision, negligent hiring, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and other related allegations against Yonkers, the Yonkers Board of Education, and Yonkers Montessori Academy.