Abbeville, La. - A potential school shooting threat at Abbeville High School led to an arrest of 15-year-old Aurora Stelly and her mother, Juaune Stelly Judd.
Videos shared to KATC by Aurora show the moments where her mother was placed in a chokehold by a school resource officer after failing to comply with verbal commands. In the video, you can hear Judd say, “mama, I love you and I’m sorry… I can’t breathe.”
On Wednesday, November 15th, Aurora says she texted her mother to pick her up from Abbeville High School after hearing rumors of a potential school shooting.
“I was like, hey mama, can you come get me, they are talking about a school shooting,” said Aurora Shelly.
The Abbeville Police department said there was no evidence of a threat.
When asked about her feelings towards her mother being in jail for 72 hours, Aurora said,“I don’t really know how to feel to be honest because my mom is in jail. There’s just a lot to feel, you know?”
KATC obtained a 22-minute surveillance video from the Abbeville Police Department. The video has no audio. After reviewing the surveillance video, you can see where the incident begins to escalate.
In the video provided to us by Aurora, you can see the officer pull a service weapon towards the direction of Judd. You can hear the officer tell Judd to get on the ground more than five times.
According to the Vermilion Parish Superintendent Thomas Byler, Judd was banned from Abbeville High School last year and earlier this year for verbally threatening a teacher.
The superintendent said the notice was mailed to Judd’s address around October 10th, but Judd’s husband, Nicholas, says they never received the letter.
In a statement sent to KATC, Byler said, “The school resource officer is a member of the Abbeville Police Department and hired by the Abbeville Police Department. The actions of the officer were based (on) guidelines that all officers follow for their protection and the protection of others.”
“Right now, everybody is looking at her like she was the problem and she was definitely not the problem. She was in fact trying to stop the problem from happening,” Nicholas said.
Nicholas hopes to turn this situation around for his four kids.
“At this point, I’m trying to keep my head held high and stay above the water,” Nicholas said.
Judd is still in jail currently facing multiple charges including criminal trespass, resisting by force, simple assault, and disarming an officer. The bond is set to $32,000.
