Douglasville Mother Charged After Daughter Fights Teen

DOUGLASVILLE, GA — Following a fight at a local park that led to a mother being charged, the Douglasville Police Department drew attention Friday to its parenting classes.

The fight took place on April 15 at Hunter Park. Police accused Douglasville mother Quantisha Wilson of threatening a 15-year-old girl with whom her daughter fought at the park that day. Police said a 7-year-old witnessed the fight.

Video of the incident was posted to Instagram, and investigators with the police department's Special Operations team used it to identify Wilson and her daughter, police said.

The video showed Wilson instructing the other girl to apologize to her daughter and to say that she was afraid to fight her; otherwise, Wilson told the girl she was gong to allow her daughter to beat the girl up again, police said.

Wilson was then accused of going on an Instagram Live rant with her daughter later that night for more than two hours. Douglasville Police Det. Coylee Danley said in a news release Wilson kept threatening the other girl, saying at one point, "I will fight a child."

The Instagram Live went directly to 150 middle-school students, Danley said. Wilson was accused of trying to delete the video, but investigators had already downloaded it, police said.

Wilson was charged on suspicion of one count of misdemeanor terroristic threat, three counts of felony terroristic threats, one count of felony contributing to the delinquency of a minor, one count of felony cruelty to children, simple battery/party to a crime and disorderly conduct, police said.

“These are some of the issues we see regularly that are caused by unresolved conflict,” Douglasville Police Chief Dr. Gary Sparks said in the release. “Youth violence, disruptions at home, lack of positive parental guidance and intervention - all of this leads to our community being unsafe because we have a parenting issue.”

Police used the case to bring attention to its parenting classes that were established three months ago, which police said has garnered low participation. Sparks said in the release that parents who need them the most are normally the ones who are least likely to attend the classes.

“As parents, we want our kids to be safe, but some parents respond by using the wrong form of instruction,” Sparks said in the release.

Police said the low class participation could be due to parents working in the evenings or due to parents believing they know what is best for their children.

“Whatever the reason, parents should be aware of the law and know that there are consequences to their actions, as well as their children’s,” Sparks said in the release.

The next parenting class will be held at 6:30 p.m., May 16, in the Community Room of the Douglasville Public Safety Complex, 2083 Fairburn Road.

More information is available by visiting the Douglasville Police Department's Facebook page or by emailing Douglasville Police Sgt. Shannon Dean, who is the department's community outreach coordinator.