‘I became really afraid’: New Jersey mom pummeled in front of her 2-year-old son feared for child during brutal attack

 
Catherine Ferreira, 27, said the the fight stemmed from an ongoing beef with Latia Harris, her co-worker at McDonald’s.
A New Jersey woman brutally beaten in front of her 2-year-old son said she only became scared when the child was threatened during the violent attack.
Catherine Ferreira, 27, her face still swollen from the Tuesday beatdown behind a McDonald’s in Salem, said she fought to stay conscious only so she could check on little Xzavion Ortiz — who was bravely trying to kick the attacker, Latia Harris, during the wild brawl.

“I became really afraid,” Ferreira told the South Jersey Times.
“I thought she may have been capable of hitting my son. I mean, her size versus my size — she could have killed me.”
Catherine Ferreira, 27, said the the fight stemmed from an ongoing beef with Latia Harris, her co-worker at McDonald’s.

 

 Salem Police Department Police were still hunting for Latia Harris, 25, on Friday — three days after she pummeled a co-worker in front of her 2-year-old son.

Several bystanders witnessed the attack, but used their cell phones to record the confrontation instead of calling for help. But the victim didn’t want to blame anyone for not trying to stop the dispute.
“I really want to make this clear: I don’t want people to see them as monsters,” she told the newspaper. “They didn’t really see that this was more serious than just a fight.”
Ferreira said the fight stemmed from an ongoing beef with Harris, 25 — who was angry at Ferreira for starting rumors that she was romantically involved with another co-worker.

But Ferreira had tried telling her that it was all just a joke taken too far.

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“I was joking around with two other employees,” Ferreira told the paper.