Cops say mom entered school bus, got physical with 9-year-old, told her kid to beat up child; bullying reportedly an issue

Police in Georgia said a 28-year-old mother of four entered a school bus last week, made physical contact with a 9-year-old, and told her own kid to beat up another child.

What are the details?

Tenisha Barber told WSB-TV she was waiting for her child’s school bus to arrive when she saw Roshaunda Qualls get on the bus on Mount Zion Parkway in Clayton County last Thursday.

“She came up, and she got on the bus,” Barber added to the station.

Court documents say Qualls recklessly interfered with the operation of a school bus when she made intentional contact with the 9-year-old, WSB reported.

Barber told the station she doesn’t condone Qualls' actions but understands: “She was trying to defend her child 'cause her child was getting bullied."

However, another parent said Qualls’ child was doing the bullying, WSB reported.

A judge ordered Qualls and her child to stay away from the other child, the station said: “You’re not to enter a Clayton County school bus, particularly bus number 36."

One woman remarked to WSB: “It’s just crazy. Things are just getting more and more out of hand.”

New charges

Police arrested Qualls again after she bonded out on the initial charges, WSB reported in a separate story.

Officers said Qualls, 28, encouraged her child to beat another child on the bus, the station said, adding that the judge said Qualls used abusive language and attempted to strike a child with her right hand.

Police told WSB Qualls entered the school bus outside the Carrington Park apartments near Jonesboro and caused mayhem.

Now Qualls faces a charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor in addition to her initial charges of battery, third-degree child cruelty, and disrupting the operation of a public school, the station said.

“When another child has been instigated by their parent to fight, I think that’s wrong because it’s not Christian-like,” one woman told WSB.

But the station added that Qualls’ attorney, Dennis Scheib, said during a hearing that the incident "wasn’t something [Qualls] started."

“She sees everybody fighting, and the door was closed," Scheib said, according to WSB. "So she got on there, and it was a mess."

After her first arrest last Thursday, Qualls — a mother of four — was released on a $7,000 bond, the station said. Following her second arrest, WSB said her attorney asked the judge for a $5,000 bond, but the judge set the bond at $10,000.

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