The mother of a teen basketball player who instructed her daughter to punch a 15-year-old opponent in a video seen millions of times was ordered to pay a $9,000 fine and provide a written apology, the Orange County District Attorney's office said Wednesday.
The girl was knocked to the ground and suffered a concussion in the Nov. 7, 2021 incident that occurred during a basketball tournament.
Latira Shonty Hunt, 44, of La Puente, was ordered to pay $9,000 and write an apology to the girl, her parents and both basketball club teams, and she must complete anger management classes. She was also ordered to stay away from the teen victim.
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Hunt was charged in December of 2021 one misdemeanor count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and one misdemeanor count of battery. She was facing one year in Orange County Jail if convicted.
“Parents have a fundamental responsibility to raise our children to be good human beings who treat everyone with dignity and respect,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said. “Youth sports play a crucial role in developing discipline, teamwork and fair play. A grown adult directing a child to use violence against another child on the basketball court is reprehensible. By instructing her own daughter to engage in violence, she is not only responsible for injuring an innocent child as if she punched her with her own fist, but she transformed her own child into someone who is willing to hurt another child.”
It was the second and final game of the fall jamboree tournament at the Map Sports Facility on Sunday.
The SoCal Blaze team was up by at least 15 points when a player on the Dream Academy team tried for a 3-point shot but missed.
Moments later, shocking video shows the same player taking a swing at the other team’s 15-year old guard, later identified as Lauryn Ham.
As soon as the punch is thrown, and the girl who was struck hit the floor, the referee's whistle can be heard blaring over the footage.
The referee told NBCLA the other girl's mother allegedly said to her daughter, "You better go hit her."
According to the coach for the SoCal Blaze, Benjamin's daughter was ejected from the gym, and the game was ended.
Former Chicago Bulls player Corey Benjamin, who is the girl's father, apologized on her behalf in the wake of the shocking punch.
"This is not how I raised my daughter," he said at the time.
An attorney for the victim's family said there was another incident involving Benjamin’s daughter in September of 2021. In that case, the girl swung at two different players during a tournament game as parents and refs ran to the floor.
