http://www.wltx.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=60657
Lakeland, Florida (WTSP) – Lakeland, Florida - The Polk County Sheriff's office released the video of a teenage girl who, as Sheriff Grady Judd puts it, was "lured so her friends could beat her."
The video shows what Judd says is the second of five beatings the 16-year-old received from people she knew. The attackers say they were upset with so-called "trash talk" the victim posted on her MySpace page, and they say they wanted to post their own video of the beating on MySpace and YouTube.
The sheriff says the victim was first beaten unconscious in a bedroom. When she awoke, she was on a couch in the living room, where the screaming and beatings continued.
"It is disgusting that the attackers find it funny and want to post something on the Internet showing someone nearly beaten to death," says the victim's mother.
Sheriff Judd is calling it one of the most disturbing videos he has seen in a long time and he hopes all those arrested will be tried as adults. They face charges ranging from felony battery, false imprisonment to kidnapping. The sheriff says the attackers "were relentless."
Even though those involved could face prison time, Judd says the teens showed no remorse after their arrests.
"When they were in a holding cell, they were all laughing," Judd says. "One of the teens arrested, who is a cheerleader, asked, 'Does this mean I'm going to miss cheerleading practice tomorrow?' The others were cutting up and said, 'It looks like we won't be going to the beach this weekend.'"
While the attackers can laugh off the incident, the victim's mother certainly can't.
"You never think it will happen to your family," she says. "To have this happen and see it... is hard to bear."
Polow Da Don On Beat Jacking Rumors
Accused of using preset music software to produce his six figure beats, Atlanta producer Polow Da Don spoke with SOHH exclusively to clear up those allegations, while also responding to rumors that he's behind recent Beyoncé leaks.
A YouTube video sparked an uproar Thursday over Usher's #1 hit "Love in This Club," which was produced and co-written by Polow.
In the short video, an unidentified young man plays a snippet of "Love in This Club," then demonstrates two presets from Apple's GarageBand program which sound nearly identical to the track -- instantly threatening the credibility of one of hip-hop's hottest producers. [Click here to watch]
"That's not where I got them from, but they're definitely in there," Polow said of the sounds used in "Love in This Club," telling SOHH he had yet to view the YouTube video. "There's this keyboard I have that a lot of sounds come in."
Polow noted that the song contains a live bassline and that Robin Thicke was enlisted to play piano on the record.
"If a ten-year-old can make 'Love in This Club' and save Usher's career and make black women want to f*ck him again, after they was done with him for getting married, then sh*t he's a genius just like me," Polow said. "I also wrote the hook - that's not a preset."
While he's taken flack in recent months for leaking "Love in This Club" before it was set to drop, many of his detractors were silenced after the song made Billboard history by reaching #1 in record time.
"I can charge six figures because I make companies hundreds of millions of dollars," Polow explained. "It's a small percentage of earnings. I'm one of the most influential people in music, not just on the production side, behind the scenes! Even me having the balls to leak an Usher record -- I put my career and my relationship on the line, but I did that all because I really believed in the music. "
"It went number one in three weeks," he boasted! "Mariah Carey was planned, Janet Jackson was planned, money was put behind those projects. This record was shipped from my computer in my hotel room."
After admitting to leaking "Love in This Club," suspicion immediately fell on Polow last week when a couple of previously unreleased Beyoncé tracks hit the net, however Polow denies any role in that.
"They are probably saying that so it will go number one in three weeks, but that's probably somebody that's on over there, trying to make it seem like I leaked it," Polow said.
Always hard at work, Polow Da Don says times are good for music fans, who can look forward to hearing his recent collaboration with Nas, Lil' Wayne and John Legend soon, as well as the upcoming album from his Zone 4 artist Keri Hilson.
http://www.sohh.com/articles/article.php/14462
