'Text Rage' Sparked Vicious Teen Beating

Boy taunted about brother's suicide attacks girl

By Mary Papenfuss, Newser Staff

Posted Apr 8, 2010 1:20 AM CDT
Updated Apr 8, 2010 5:30 AM CDT

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'Text Rage' Sparked Vicious Teen Beating — Josie Ratley was kicked repeatedly in the head by a classmate cops said was set off by an ugly text message taunting her teen attacker about his brother's suicide. (BrowardHealth)

Florida police are citing "text rage" as the trigger in a savage beating of a teenage girl after she sent her attacker a vicious cell phone message. Josie Lou Ratley, 15, is in a medically induced coma to relieve swelling on her brain after she was repeatedly kicked in the head by high school sophomore Wayne Treacy, police said. Ratley, upset that Treacy was dating a 13-year-old girl, apparently taunted him about his older brother's suicide in the text that set him off.

He attacked her at a bus stop near Deerfield High School a short time later. Ratley is breathing on her own, but it's unclear how much she will recover. Treacy is due back in court later this month when a judge will determine whether he should face trial on attempted murder charges as an adult, reports ABC News.
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