Former attorney Kelly McGraw was found guilty of misdemeanor battery after her trial on June 12 for intentionally throwing parade beads at the face of a child who was blowing a whistle given to her by law enforcement to celebrate the Grand Fiesta Parade, last year.
Although McGraw denied the accusations, the victim and witnesses testified McGraw deliberately hurled a “heavy” set of “big” parade beads at the child for continuing to blow the whistle after berating her to stop and telling the girl and her family they were “‘b——‘ and to go back to their country due to them being a different “ethnicity.”
Pat Jennings, a local attorney, witnessed what happened at the parade on May 31, 2024, near Government and Palafox streets, and testified at McGraw’s trial.
He said law enforcement was handing out whistles to children at the parade and the victim and her family started to blow them when McGraw began “calling her awful names and questioning her legal status in the United States.”
“I guess she lost it and threw a set of heavy beads,” Jennings said. “Not just regular Mardi Gras beads. These were the nice, big ones, right to her face, and my thought was, this little girl’s going to be traumatized for life. She’s never going to want to go to another parade again. She’s going to remember this forever.”
The incident was reported to police by Alexa Gonzales, a woman with the victim, whose name and age are redacted from the report, along with the victim’s relationship to Gonzales.
When reached for comment McGraw said she did not throw beads at the child and that the child was not injured.
Police said there were no visible injuries to the girl’s face.
After the article was published, McGraw sent the News Journal an unredacted copy of the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office report that revealed the victim’s name and her relationship with the family, to highlight what she said was a mistake in the News Journal’s reporting on her impending trial and disputing a witness’s account that there was a red mark on the child’s face.
She also clarified the age of the victim at the time as slightly older than a witness’ account that estimated the girl’s age at around “9 or 10 years old.”
Florida law prohibits sharing unredacted police reports that reveal protected information about a crime victim, like a victim’s name and age, without the victim’s consent or a court order.
The State Attorney’s Office said McGraw is scheduled to be sentenced July 15 at 9 a.m.
As with any defendant, the court will consider any prior criminal history or other facts that are relevant to sentencing before deciding on a sentence on the misdemeanor charge, which could include jail time.
Disbarred over allegations of substance abuse
McGraw was disbarred in 2018 after the Florida Supreme Court found she failed to comply with a reinstatement order following her 2011 suspension over substance abuse issues.
She had been suspended in 2011, then conditionally reinstated in 2016 and placed on three-year probation for substance abuse issues.
Part of that probation agreement mandated McGraw to abstain from alcohol.
McGraw tested positive for alcohol consumption several times in the first year.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Former attorney found guilty of throwing parade beads at child’s face. What happens now
Reporting by Mollye Barrows, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
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