Mercades' Aug 7 arrest: The affidavit

Bond has been set at $81,500 in the new charges against Mercades Nichols.

The affidavit documents have also been made available with some redactions. This post will list the notable findings in the document.

- Mercades is still unemployed, according to the CAPIAS. Mercades asked a few months ago for her house arrest to be lifted so she could find a job, so apparently she couldn't find one.

- The stalking, harassment, other crime occurred between 10/31/2007 and 03/28/2008.

- Mercades also harassed, stalked, threatened the girlfriend of the victim.

- Mercades tried to run the victim off the road with her car on 3/28/2008 (just two days before the infamous beating of Victoria Lindsay happened!) Brittini Hardcastle was also in the car during the attempted assault with the car.

- Three victims are named in the Polk County Sheriff affidavit (one name is redacted and is presumably Jacob Johns, former boyfriend of Nichols who filed a restraining order against her last fall).

- Mercades contacted someone via the internet and asked him to beat the victim up. She offered the male $50.00 to beat the victim. Mercades gave him $40.00 and said she would give the other $10.00 once the job was complete.

- Mercades sent several text messages to the victim while the restraining order was active. These messages are listed in the affidavit.

- Mercades was arrested on 2/14/2008 for violating the restraining order.

Probable cause (first paragraph only): On 10/31/2007 at approximately 0725 hours the suspect, Mercades Nichols, intentionally and unlawfully battered [redacted] against his will. The suspect and [redacted] were writing notes back and forth while attending class at Mulberry High School. The suspect began making threats to [redacted] in the note advising she was going to have a group of boys beat him up after school. When [redacted] attempted to keep the note to show the school officials the suspect stabbed [redacted] three times in the hand with a pen she had been using to write the note. [redacted] advised the incident did not cause any permanent damage but left several marks where the pen had left ink behind. The incident was reported to school officials but no actions were taken in reference to the incident.

Focus: Brittini Marshelle Hardcastle

Charges:
Felony Kidnapping with intent to terrorize and/or cause bodily injury
Misdemeanor battery
Tampering with a witness

Facts:
17-years old

Is being represented by a public defender, as opposed to a private attorney

Once lived in Perry County, Kentucky

Can be seen in the video locking the front door when the lights are off.

Has a sister, Elizabeth Hardcastle, in Kentucky

Is the most violent assailant in the beating

Is the one wearing the pink pants in the video

Physically blocked the front door and held onto the doorknob while telling the victim: "No, you're not leaving."

Took a final still photograph (click here to see it) after the beating while Tori was packing her belongings

Her father has a lengthy criminal record (click here to see information on his most recent arrest)
She herself has no unsealed criminal records prior to this beating

Currently lives with her mother in her grandfather's, Charles Platt's, residence (the residence is listed in his name only)

House arrest lifted on June 26th.

Speculation:
Re-established contact with Mercades Nichols after a long absence just seven days before the beating took place. Click here to see a comment she posted on Mercades' MySpace page just seven days before the beating took place asking "what's new."

Analysis:
Was very stonefaced most of the time at her bond hearing. Did show some emotion (pursing of lips and closing eyes) when the judge said she was setting bond at $30,000

Will likely face actual prison time if convicted of all the charges.

Questions:
Does she have a tendency to commit violence?

How severe is her anger management problem?

Why did she harbor so much ill feeling toward the victim?

Was this her first time assaulting and battering someone?

Was she typically a bully, or was she someone who was bullied?

She has several abandoned MySpace accounts, why did she constantly register new ones?

Why did she care so much about who Tori was allegedly dating?

Did she intimidate and/or manipulate the other assailants into participating?

Links:
Current MySpace Account
Old MySpace #1
Old MySpace #2
Old MySpace #3
Newer photos of Brittini taken after the beating and posted on the MySpace of her boyfriend's mother

(Note that for some reason she registers her MySpace accounts under BRITTNI and not BRITTINI)