Bail set for teens in YouTube beating

BARTOW, Fla., April 11 (UPI) -- A judge set bail of at least $30,000 each for eight Florida teenagers facing adult trials in the beating of a cheerleader whose assault was posted on YouTube.

The teens were being held in the Polk County Jail. They made their initial court appearance via a video link from a small courtroom at the jail to the judge's courtroom, the Orlando Sentinel reported.

Prosecutors decided Thursday to try seven of the teenagers as adults on charges that include kidnapping and assault. The eighth, Stephen Schumaker, is 18.

Mercades Nichols, 17, April Cooper, 14, Brittni Hardcastle, 17, Brittany Mayes, 17, and Cara Murphy, 16, all of Lakeland, and Kayla Hassell, 15, of Mulberry allegedly lured the victim to a house in Lakeland and then beat her. Zachary Ashley, 17, and Schumaker allegedly served as lookouts.

The attack on the 16-year-old girl, also from Lakeland, allegedly was in retaliation for online comments she was said to have made.