Race did not play a role in the assault earlier this month of a biracial Alabama teenager recorded on a doorbell camera in an incident that went viral, authorities said Friday.
Jacob Turner told WVTM that two boys seemed to be angered that he and his friend, who are both biracial, were hanging out with a white girl in a Rainbow City parking lot on May 12.
Jacob said the boys chased him in separate trucks until he hit a dead end when the beating began.
“You could see the hatred look in their eyes. You know what their plans were. So, I just thought, just protect my head,” he told the station, adding that he had a cyst in his brain that ruptured before and could be deadly if it burst again.
He suffered bruises and swelling.
Jacob’s mother claimed one of the boys called her son the N-word and bragged about the beating to claim the assault was racially motivated.
But on Friday, Rainbow City police said their investigation found no evidence to suggest race was a factor in the beating.
“At the conclusion of the 124-man hour investigation, there was no evidence found that proved the assault at the apartment complex was racially motivated,” the department said in a statement. “The assault appears to be a result of prior confrontations that occurred earlier that evening.”
Three juveniles involved in the incident are facing charges with Etowah County Juvenile Probation, police said.
No further information was released on what those charges were.
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