Video of child being punched by a grown man becomes viral

Last Updated on January 14, 2019 at 3:22 pm

Asheville, North Carolina

Known for it’s beautiful mountains and views of the clear blue sky, Asheville, North Carolina, is one of America’s top tourist destinations.

But over the weekend the largest city in Western North Carolina became known for a 50-year-old man punching a 11-year-old girl in the face.

In video that has gone viral shows a group of underage kids standing in front of an entrance of the Asheville Mall. The kids are involved in an altercation with a man that has been identified as 50-year-old, David Stern Bell, of Black Mountain, North Carolina. The altercation escalates into a scuffle after the 11-year-old girl appears to have push Bell from behind. The 250lbs Bell turned around and shoved the preteen with great force. The preteen regained her stance and approached Bell, but this time Bell hit the pretreen with even greater force in the face with a closed fist, knocking her out.

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I’m sorry to share this, but I need the police and prosecutors to feel our full wrath on this. Last night, at the Asheville Mall in Asheville, North Carolina, David Steven Bell, listed as 6 foot 5 inches tall, and 250 pounds, first shoved, then knocked out an 11 year old girl with a closed fist punch right to her face. Mall cops hardly took the thing seriously and local police charged the man with a damn misdemeanor. He’s already out. A misdemeanor. I’m furious.

A post shared by Shaun King (@shaunking) on Jan 13, 2019 at 5:18pm PST

The video of the incident made it’s rounds in social media with people calling for action:

D.L. Hughley…

and Shaun King…

Bell was arrested after the incident, but was not charge with anything and was released just a short time afterwards. This incident comes with a double edge sword as many are split on who is at fault… The grown man for hitting a child or the children for not respecting an adult and causing the problem.

Back in the early 90s, the Asheville Mall had a lot of problems with teens fighting and causing trouble during the mall hours on the weekends. The mall imposed a seven o’clock curfew for teenagers younger than 17-years old; they were only allowed in the mall if they were with a parent or guardian. But over the years the use of the curfew faded and teens began hanging out at the mall again.

A GoFundMe page has been established for the preteen and if you would like to make a donation. It can be found at: https://www.gofundme.com/justice-for-victim-of-david-steven-bell