Initial reports that the Spring Valley (South Carolina) high school student viciously attacked by a sheriff's deputy was an orphan appear to have been incorrect.
The student's attorney, State Sen. Todd Rutherford (D-Columbia), says he met with both the young woman's mother and grandmother early on Thursday Oct. 29th and that they are both "alive and well." Rutherford made the comments on the Joe Madison Show, a long-running public affairs radio show currently heard on Sirius XM.
Rutherford did not, however, confirm or deny that the young woman is currently living in foster care when speaking to Madison.
18-year old Niya Kenny witnessed the attack on her Spring Valley classmate and verbally defended the student. She too was arrested on a disturbance charge and upon her release from jail Monday night told local station WLTX-19 "I know this girl don't got nobody and I couldn't believe this was happening." Kenny is also being represented by Rutherford.
In an interview with Rutherford on Wednesday the New York Daily News wrote that Rutherford told them the young woman was an orphan.
In the most recent coverage of the case, the New York Daily News states the student, who suffered a broken arm, lives in foster care but does not identify her as an orphan.