The NJ mom who was brutally assaulted in front of her 2-year-old child in a video that went viral this week says that the incident stemmed from a misunderstanding about a joke. Victim Catherine Ferreira, 27, talked to the South Jersey Times about the beating which occurred this past Tuesday, allegedly at the hands of 25-year-old McDonald's employee LaTia Harris. "I have to wake up like this now," Ferreira told them. "I have school to go to and all of this over a fight ... and the fight is over stupidity — nothing is worth any of this. No job, no guy is worth any of this ... she really did a number on me. For nothing. Over nothing."
Ferreira, who is a former employee of the McDonald's where Harris works, says she was visiting former coworkers a few weeks ago and made a joke about Harris and her manager "being together." "I was joking around with two other employees," she said. "I was talking to my former co-workers — and since she overheard the statements that I made, she was upset." Ferreira claims Harris kept calling and harassing her about the joke afterwards, leading up to this past Tuesday's physical confrontation. "I became really afraid," Ferreira said. "I thought she may have been capable of hitting my son. I mean, her size versus my size — she could have killed me."
The attack left Ferreira with limited vision in her left eye, numerous contusions, a broken nose, and was also threatened with being shot during the attack. She added that the people seen in the video watching the fight (and not intervening) were just "kids" from McDonalds: "I really want to make this clear — I don't want people to see them as monsters," she said. "They didn't really see that this was more serious than just a fight."
Harris is facing charges of aggravated assault and two counts of making terroristic threats. "I feel sorry for her," Ferreira said of Harris. "She has two kids — and all of this — over what? Nothing."
