A Maryland hairstylist is facing criminal charges after she posted a shocking video showing her dragging a 15-year-old client across the salon floor over a dispute about a $150 bill.
The now viral video shows Jayla Cunningham, 18, pulling the girl down the hallway by the hood of her sweater and forcefully yanking the teenager into a room next to a bag of trash, causing her to slide on the hardwood floors.
‘Sit right here until somebody sends it,’ Cunningham could be heard telling the teen, presumably about the payment, in the video she originally posted to social media herself, according to Fox 5.
‘I’m not f***ing playing. You just tried to f***ing run,’ the foul-mouthed stylist continues. ‘You lucky I ain’t beat the s**t out [of] you.’
She could then be seen cutting part of the girl’s hair before she walks off-camera.
Meanwhile, the girl could be seen touching her hair and pulling herself up as Cunningham comes back into view and stares directly at the surveillance camera recording the March 2 incident.
The teenage client’s mother has since filed a police report, telling Fox 5 that Cunningham also grabbed her daughter’s hair when she went for the hood.
She said her child was left traumatized by the incident, and when asked directly how her daughter was doing, she replied, ‘not good at all.’
Jayla Cunningham, 18, posted a shocking video showing her dragging a teenage client across the salon floor on March 2, causing the teen to slide on the hardwood floors
Cunningham has defended her actions, claiming the teen was trying to run without paying for her $150 service
But Cunningham has so far defended her actions.
She claims the 15-year-old client was trying to leave without paying for the $150 service that included a weave, which she said was what she was recorded cutting out of the girl’s hair.
‘She ran. Forget trash, she ran without paying me,’ Cunningham declared.
‘I dragged her by the hood back in to the salon until I could get paid, or you know, until the police come or until, you know, she let me take out the service because it’s like she literally ran outside, like she was about to be gone.
‘I feel like if I didn’t do that, she would have been gone and I would have just never been paid.’
The stylist went on to tell Fox 5 that she did not realize she was being charged with second-degree assault for the now viral incident, as she asserted that she has a witness who could back up her claims.
The girl’s mother, however, has claimed that her daughter accidentally sent the money for the service to the wrong CashApp account, and maintains that the girl was trying to figure out how to pay Cunningham when she grabbed her daughter.
‘It’s absolutely absurd,’ the shocked mother said. ‘It’s viral. It’s all over the country.’
The stylist is now facing charges of second-degree assault for the incident, as the victim’s family also hires attorneys to represent the teenager in a civil suit against Cunningham as well
Amid the trauma, the girl’s family has now hired attorneys to represent the teenager in a civil suit against Cunningham as well.
‘The video is horrendous,’ attorney De’Aja Thompson told Fox 5. ‘It’s a 15-year-old girl. We’re talking about someone’s child here – a child who is being dragged across a salon floor by her jacket over something as simple as a mistake.’
She added in comments to PEOPLE that the incident ‘was most certainly avoidable.’
‘Unfortunately, this case is just one depiction of the reality of what happens when citizens take the law into their own hands,’ the lawyer lamented.
‘As a result, in this case, a young girl suffered physical and psychological injuries for what ultimately turned out to be a mistake, and another young lady is now facing criminal charges that could have larger implications.’
Cunningham is due to appear in court to answer to the assault charges on April 18.
She was previously also slapped with three second-degree assault charges stemming from an October 4 incident, according to the New York Post.
Details about that case are limited, but a hearing is scheduled for March 18.
In the meantime, Cunningham – who goes by Jayla Amara on social media – has claimed she has received death threats online due to the viral video, and in an update on her Instagram Stories on Saturday, the stylist told her followers: ‘I’m OK y’all, thank y’all, love y’all.’
She also posted new rules to her Instagram page, saying any loyal or returning customers will still only pay the regular $25 deposit, but new clients must make the full payment up front and send their ID.
Anyone between the ages of 14 to 18, she said, must have an adult with them for the duration of the service.
