2 Accused Of Assaulting Teacher Sentenced To 11 1/2 To 23 Months In Jail

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- A man and a woman have been sentenced to jailtime for the assault of a Pittsburgh elementary school teacher in 2017.

A judge sentenced Dai'Shonta Williams and Vincent Beasley to 11 1/2 to 23 months in jail on Monday.

Janice Watkins, an elementary school teacher at Pittsburgh's King Pre-K-8, says she used to be happy-go-lucky, but after the incident in the fall of 2017 when she was attacked by Williams and Beasley, her life is not the same.

Watkins, her mother, sister and husband all testified at the sentencing for Williams and Beasley.

They told the court that Watkins only wants to stay in the house and that she constantly battles headaches. Watkins also said she still has blurry vision and migraines more than a year after the attack.

Watkins, who had a concussion following the incident, admitted she doesn't enjoy teaching as much as she used to and has had difficulty since returning to work two weeks ago.

Beasley and Williams, whose daughter was one of Watkins' students at the time of the attack, each faced multiple charges of aggravated assault for the incident.

Williams was reportedly upset after Watkins took her daughter's cell phone for having it out in school.

Dash cam video shown in court on Monday shows the two women fighting on the side of the road before Beasley comes in and kicks Watkins.

Beasley told the court he was only trying to break up the fight.

At Monday's sentencing, Williams and Beasley apologized, but Watkins told KDKA she didn't accept their apology.

"You do something bad, you have to pay for it," Watkins said. "They're sorry now because they're... [Beasley] never admitted, all the way to the end, even though there's videotape that he did what he did."

Williams and Beasley each received up to 23 months on the aggravated assault charges and five years probation.

"I think that this is a precedent type of case. The court is saying that teachers are a protected class and they have to be treated as such. The heartbreaking part about all of this though is that you have a woman that has completely admitted to her faults. She completely lost her cool. She has been remorseful from day one with me. She just had a baby who's three months old," defense attorney Blaine Jones said.

During KDKA's interview with Jones, Watkins' sister interrupted, expressing her anger.

"She jumped on my sister. That man kicked my sister. Guess what? She's where she needs to be," she said.

The judge in this case said this incident is an example of why people don't want to teach anymore.