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Woman arraigned for punching son in school
By Joe Gorman
YOUNGSTOWN
A woman is in the Mahoning County jail after being arraigned in municipal court Friday on charges she punched her son in the face in an office at Mahoning County High School and assaulted a school employee who tried to stop her.
Magistrate Anthony Sertick set bond at $7,500 for Eboni Fulks, 34, charged with domestic violence and assault in the attack, which court records show took place Oct. 26.
Fulks was arrested Thursday, according to jail records, and was arraigned via video hookup.
When she was questioned about her finances after she requested a court appointed lawyer, Fulks told Magistrate Sertick that she is a single mother with five children, and the child she is accused of punching has been giving her trouble.
Fulks said she cannot keep a job because every time she gets one she has to leave because her son misbehaves at the high school, where troubled youths are placed.
She said she was merely “chastising” her son for misbehaving in the school office.
But city Prosecutor Dana Lantz quickly interrupted and said that Fulks punched the boy several times because he wore a coat belonging to one of his brothers to school.
A report by a Mahoning County deputy sheriff who was working security at the school said that when the employee tried to stop Fulks from punching the boy, the employee also was assaulted. She then walked away and told them: “Go ahead and report it to whoever you want,” reports said.
Both charges are first-degree misdemeanors. Magistrate Sertick said he set a significant bond for Fulks because of her criminal record in Florida. Some of those charges are similar to the ones she is facing here.
She is expected to have a pretrial hearing next week.