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Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Teens Charged With Hate Crime In MD McDonald's Beating

BALTIMORE (AP) -- Two teens are facing hate crime charges in the beating of a transgender woman at a McDonald's, an attack that was caught on video and posted online.

Teonna Brown, 18, was indicted Monday on assault and hate crime charges in the attack on Chrissy Lee Polis at the restaurant last month. She is also charged with assaulting a customer and a McDonald's employee who tried to intervene. A 14-year-old girl is facing the same charges in juvenile court. The Associated Press typically does not identify juveniles charged with crimes.

Both teenagers are being held, prosecutors said no one else would be charged.

Brown was defending herself and maintains her innocence, according to attorney Timothy P. Knepp. He declined to go into further detail.

"She's a very nice young lady who lives with her mom and is not the person the press has made her out to be," Knepp said.

A videotape of the April 18 beating showed a woman being attacked repeatedly while an employee and customer try to stop them, and the woman apparently having a seizure.

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