LHHATL star Tommie is facing the most serious legal threat of her life. Following allegations of child abuse at an unidentified minor’s middle school, Tommie could be spending more time behind bars than the combined sentences of all the other Love & Hip Hop stars who’ve been in prison.
But is Tommie really getting 50 years for the charges? Or, if convicted, will she be able to plea some of the charges down?
Tommie has been charged with seven counts in the middle school abuse case
As we reported back in October, Tommie was arrested by the Smyrna (GA) Police following a violent encounter at that city’s Griffin Middle School. According to the police report, Tommie apparently smashed a middle school girl’s head into a locker, dragged her through the halls by the girl’s hair, and slapped the girl’s face and head.
Making the case even more difficult for Tommie: security cameras are said to have filmed the entire indicent.
Now, the Marietta Daily Journal writes that this past Thursday, Tommie was indicted on seven separate counts. The charges against her include “including aggravated assault, cruelty to children, simple battery and aggravated stalking.”
Did Tommie attack her daughter?
Following alleged October assault, numerous gossip blogs and other outlets reported that the girl Tommie attacked was in fact her oldest daughter Samaria. That claim was never confirmed, though — and, because the victim was a minor, her exact identity was never made public.
However, the MDJ also confirms that four of the seven charges against Tommie involve “family violence.” So, while it’s likely that the police and court records will never name the person Tommie is said to have attacked, it now seems likely that one of Tommie’s children was somehow involved.
(It’s also worth pointing out that less than 24 hours after the middle school attack, Tommie was arrested *again* on separate charges. According to reports at the time, Tommie hid in the attic when officers came to her house to investigate complaints she was in violation of a court order that she keep away from the victim of her attack. The charges in that arrest were obstruction of an officer, and “aggravated stalking.” It’s hard to see how Tommie could have been “stalking” her victim while at home if the victim was someone other than one of her kids — or, potentially, one of her kids’ close friends.)
Is Tommie really getting 50 years on the child abuse charges?
It’s important to note that Tommie hasn’t even been tried on the seven charges yet. In fact, the charges against her are so recent that they don’t even show up in the Cobb County Superior Court’s database.
But TMZ quickly reported that, per the prosecutors with whom they’d spoken, the maximum prison sentence for a person found guilty on all seven charges would be 54 years.
Again, no one can say for sure what will happen to Tommie when the case comes to trial. It could also be possible that she could be offered a plea deal before any trial would be scheduled to begin, and that some of the seven charges might be dismissed as a result.
But that scenario relies on the intent of the Cobb County DA — who may or may not be disposed toward leniency, given Tommie’s extensive criminal background. (By our count, Tommie has been arrested at least 22 times. Click here for Tommie’s full arrest record.)
Will Tommie still be on Love & Hip Hop Atlanta this year?
As soon as the child abuse allegations broke, gossip about Tommie’s imminent firing from Love & Hip Hop Atlanta began to spread. Our sources indicated that that was a possibility, but that producers had yet to make a decision.
Then, just over a week ago, Tommie took to social media to claim she’d quit the show outright. Naturally, *this* announcement led to speculation that she had either quit because she knew she was about to be fired, or had actually been fired and was trying to win a PR war before the new season began.
VH1 normally doesn’t announce Love & Hip Hop cast changes until a new season is just about to air. And they’ve yet to say anything public about Love & Hip Hop Atlanta‘s upcoming season. One wonders if they’ll break with tradition and make an official announcement in light of Tommie’s current legal woes.
Tommie herself, who’s been unusually quiet on social media since the holidays, referred to those legal issues as “A storm” in her latest post:
Love & Hip Hop Atlanta Season 8 is filming now.
(Photo credits: Is Tommie really getting 50 years via SplashNews.com, Instagram)
John Sharp is a Starcasm’s chief editorial correspondent-at-large. Tips: E-mail john@starcasm.net or Twitter @john_starcasm.
