A Maryland hairstylist charged with second-degree assault is speaking out after a viral video showed her dragging a teenage client across a salon floor for allegedly attempting to leave without paying.
Jayla Cunningham, 18, who goes by Jayla Amora on social media, was captured in the shocking footage pulling the 15-year-old girl by her hood before throwing her to the ground inside a salon.
The video also shows Cunningham cutting the weave she had just installed from the teen’s hair while demanding payment.
“I’m not f—— playing. You just tried to f—— run. You lucky I ain’t beat the s— out you,” Cunningham is heard saying in the clip.
Following the incident, Cunningham defended her actions, insisting that she was simply protecting her work and livelihood.
“Forget trash, she ran without paying me,” Cunningham told FOX 5 DC. “I dragged her by her hood back into the salon until I could get paid or, you know, until the police come or until, you know, she let me take out the service, because it’s like she literally ran outside, like she was about to be gone.”
Cunningham claims the appointment cost $150 and says she acted in self-defense to prevent a financial loss.
“I feel like if I didn’t do that, she would have been gone,” the stylist explained. “And I would have just never been paid.”
However, the client’s family argues the situation was a misunderstanding. The teen’s mother told reporters that her daughter had accidentally sent the payment to the wrong account and was trying to fix the mistake before the assault occurred.
Now, the family has hired legal representation, with attorney De’Aja Thompson calling the video of the altercation “horrendous.”
“It’s a 15-year-old girl. We’re talking about someone’s child here,” Thompson said. “A child who is being dragged across a salon floor by her jacket over something as simple as a mistake.”
Cunningham is scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary inquiry on April 18. It remains unclear whether she has obtained legal counsel.
