ST. LOUIS COUNTY — Authorities this week upgraded charges against a man accused of beating a teenage McDonald’s employee earlier this month in north St. Louis County.
The attack was part of a brawl in the restaurant’s parking lot that was caught on video April 7. About 12 people are caught up in the fighting, and a man can be seen dragging a 15-year-old girl by her long braids, stomping her head on the concrete and punching her. Several news outlets, social media posts and a GoFundMe page have identified her as Aryiah Lynch.
About a week after the fight, St. Louis County prosecutors charged 25-year-old Johnny Ricks with second-degree assault and second-degree property damage.
Prosecutors upgraded the assault charge Monday from second- to first-degree assault.
Police arrested Ricks on Wednesday in the 6900 block of Olive Boulevard. He remained in jail Monday, according to online records, and is scheduled for a bond hearing Thursday.
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Aryiah suffered a skull fracture, frontal lobe damage, a broken nose, a concussion and lacerations to her head, according to her family on GoFundMe. She had surgery April 17, and it was described on the fundraiser as a success.
On Tuesday, the teen’s family updated the page and said she went to a hospital Monday for a checkup but doctors could not perform a procedure because her face is still too swollen.
“She still can’t breathe through her nose,†her stepmother Shawnunique Phillips wrote. “... She is not ok please keep my baby in y’all prayers.â€
Her family could not be reached for additional comment.
Ricks was at McDonalds, at 6863 Parker Road, shortly before 7 p.m. on April 7 when he became upset and destroyed an electronic menu board by throwing a tray at it, police wrote in court documents. Employees told him to leave and escorted him outside.
Once they were in the parking lot, an argument ensued and drew the attention of more people, police said.
That’s when the brawl began and Aryiah was assaulted.
The one-minute video of the McDonald’s parking lot brawl comes on the heels of two viral fight videos in March involving teens in the region.
A March 8 attack of 16-year-old Kaylee Gain was caught on camera and showed another girl beating Kaylee’s skull into concrete on a residential street near Hazelwood East High School.
Gain suffered a skull fracture and brain bleeding, her family said. She was moved out of the hospital’s intensive care unit about two weeks after the fight, but struggled to speak and walk.
Authorities charged 15-year-old Maurnice DeClue as a minor, but her family released her name. She has a hearing May 10 to determine whether she will be charged as an adult.
Four days after that fight, another fight broke out near Rose Mary Johnson Jennings Junior High School. The 47-second video shows more than 20 people yelling in the middle of Hord Avenue, just around the corner from the junior high school.
In the background, two people start fighting at the end of the driveway of a home. As the crowd runs toward the fight, a car honks while trying to make it through the crowd.
Justin Brooks, 14, was stabbed during that fight. He died at a hospital.
A 15-year-old boy was arrested and charged with his murder. His name has not been released because he is charged as a minor.
Note: This article has been updated to correct the spelling of Kaylee Gain's name.
