Autistic daughter faces battery charges for allegedly attacking school staff as mother begs for leniency: ‘She’s the sweetest kid’

A mother is begging officials to drop the charges against her autistic daughter after she was accused of attacking a teacher during a dispute that occurred at school. Esther King argued that her daughter, Halle Hansen, had a psychological evaluation that deemed her incompetent to stand trial.

In November 2025, 21-year-old Hansen allegedly struck one of her teachers when they took away her cellphone during school. A report was made, and Hansen was handcuffed and escorted out of American Senior High School in Hialeah, Florida, where she attends through a program for students with disabilities. She was later suspended, according to CBS News.

Now, prosecutors are moving forward to criminally charge Hansen with battery, despite her being ruled incompetent to proceed with a trial due to her autism by a court-appointed psychologist. “My child shouldn’t be going through this,” King said following an Aug. 26 hearing with Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Maria Verde-Yanez.

Defense says Hansen doesn’t understand what happened

The family’s lawyer, Michael Pizzi, requested a dismissal of the case during the hearing. However, Verde-Yanez said that she doesn’t have the authority to stop the case from moving forward in accordance with Florida law. She stated that the charges can be dismissed after a year of Hansen remaining incompetent.

[The law] requires that after one year of remaining incompetent, I may dismiss all [charges],” Verde-Yanez said. “Actually, I shall dismiss all charges in this after one year of the defendant remaining incompetent to proceed.”

Reportedly, the teacher involved in the incident wished to move forward with the charges. According to prosecutor Ian Muir, the teacher claimed that this was not the first time such an incident had happened at school and that she was “not willing to dismiss the case at this time.”

King says Hansen had a moment

Pizzi questioned the court on their decision to keep the case open, stating, “She’s not gonna get restored; she’s autistic. She’s not gonna change.” He added, “You need to drop this case. I’m not understanding. Why are we gonna drag it out for another six months?” This isn’t the first time society has seemingly ignored one’s psychological state, as one mother claimed she was kicked out of a coffee shop because her autistic kid was crying.

The family previously asked the court to show leniency in the case, claiming that Hansen was incapable of understanding the situation. “She had a moment. She’s not a violent,” King told WSVN. “She’s the sweetest kid ever, she’s a gift from God.”

King and their lawyer are now requesting that the Miami-Dade County Public Schools district to provide CCTV footage of the incident, which they believe will clear Hansen of the charges against her in their next hearing in October. “We get a subpoena to get the video camera out of the cafeteria of the incident,” King said. “The whole world will change about this incident”

Have a tip we should know? [email protected]