A woman has entered a plea after a brawl with her two sisters at a World of Beer location in The Villages.
Melody Jean Smalley, 24, of Lady Lake, pleaded not guilty to two counts of battery last week in Sumter County Court. She remains free on $1,000 bond.
Smalley has been determined by the court to be indigent. She earns $1,200 per month, according to a disclosure statement. She will be relying on the public defender’s office to provide her representation.
Smalley was leaving World of Beer at Brownwood Paddock Square shortly before midnight Oct. 16 when her 27-year-old sister and her 23-year-old sister arrived in the parking lot to give her a ride, having deemed the middle sister “too drunk to drive,” according to an arrest report from the Wildwood Police Department.
Smalley became “irate” and pulled her older sister by her hair in an attempt to remove her from the vehicle. The younger sister tried to separate Smalley and the older sister. Smalley grabbed the younger sister by her hair and dragged her to the ground.
During a brief break in the fighting, Smalley got into a car with her younger sister. Smalley suddenly bit her younger sister’s thumb, piercing it with her teeth. She refused to release her thumb from her teeth. The younger sister began kicking and punching Smalley in an attempt to force her to release her thumb. She was able to push Smalley out of the vehicle, locked the doors and called her older sister who called 911.