FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Two teen brothers Jerrell and Druax Madison appeared virtually in Broward juvenile court on Tuesday, and are facing charges in the brutal beating of transgender teen Chad Sanford in Pompano Beach.
“You’re not to have any contact with the victim…you can’t text, you cannot email, you can’t visit his place,” a judge told the Madison brothers.
It’s the second time 14-year-old Sanford, who switched schools recently, was attacked. Last year, Sanford made national headlines after being attacked and slammed to the ground by a group of older kids at Deerfield Beach Middle School as others watched.
The crime was caught on video and shared millions of times on social media.
“They came behind me and jumped me,” said Sanford, who added that the assailants said, “Don’t come around me with that gay (expletive).”
In the most recent attack, Sanford received an invitation to hang out with a group of young people thought to be friends.
Sanford’s grandmother, who asked for her identity to be protected, said the past year hasn’t been easy.
“Just let Chad be Chad,” she said. “Guys were spitting on him on the bus and treating him any kind of way because of his (being) transgender and life of what he want to be. I’m just frustrated.”
Deputies said the two teens were being charged with battery and a crime of prejudice under Florida law, both misdemeanors.
“I am utterly heartbroken, angry and devastated,” attorney Melba Pearson, a former prosecutor who now works for FIU’s Center for Administration of Justice, said.
Pearson said the case should be “150 percent” charged as a hate crime. But she says she doesn’t think incarceration will solve the issue.
“I think that they need counseling. I think that they need to be held accountable, whether it be (through) community service, other aspects, but they need to learn that this behavior is wrong, because they were taught this somehow,” she said. “They didn’t just wake up one day and decide to attack someone because they’re transgender.”
The two teenagers are set to appear in court again on Oct. 10.
If charged with a federal hate crime, they could receive up to five years in prison.
LGBTQ activists told Local 10 they are working with Sanford’s family to offer resources like mental health counseling and mentorship programs to help and protect the teen.