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Mother: I beat coach with bat to protect my children

Posted at 3:02 PM, Aug 20, 2012
and last updated 2012-08-20 15:02:59-04

MEMPHIS (WREG) - A mother has been released from jail and is apologizing for her actions after Memphis police say she beat a man with a baseball bat.

“I didn’t intend to do whatever I did to him,” said Lakeshia Richmond. “I apologize, but I don’t apologize for what happened to my kids.”

Richmond claims Tony Massey, the little league football coach to her 8 and 9 year old sons, molested them on at least one occasion.

“I asked them ‘Did he touch you bad, did he touch you down there?’ and my little boy said ‘yes,’” Richmond claimed, “and I said ‘was it just you?’ and he said ‘no, it was some more kids.’”

Within an hour of finding this out, Richmond says she saw Massey walking down Person Avenue alone.

“When I see him, I see my kids being hurt and that’s all I see,” she said.

It was then that Richmond claims she snapped. She went into the trunk of her car and pulled out a baseball bat, chased Massey down and began beating him.

“During the beating he was saying he didn’t do it -- and that he was sorry,” said Richmond. “If you didn’t do it then why are you saying you’re sorry? What are you sorry for?”

“What if they had killed him,” said Lula Massey, the victim’s grandmother.

Read more on this story from WREG.com in Memphis.