Keyon Harrold Jr who was assaulted by 'SoHo Karen' in viral video is seeking therapy: 'He's traumatized'
Teenager Keyon Harold Jr. has been left upset and outraged and has been asking "why me" after he was blamed by 'SoHo Karen' for a phone robbery in a sickening viral video. The young teenager was left "seriously traumatized" after allegedly being targeted by 22-year-old Miya Ponsetto, TMZ reports. The incident took place inside the Arlo Hotel in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood and saw Ponsetto falsely accusing the Black teen of stealing her phone only to have her Uber return it to her minutes later.
The police and the District Attorney's office in NYC have been investigating the incident. The New York Police Department has been probing a harassment complaint that came as a result of the December 26 incident. The incident went viral after Grammy Award-winning trumpet player Keyon Harrold took to Instagram on Saturday, December 28 to share the video.
The woman is heard screaming in the video at Harrold's son and demanding that the hotel manager take the teenager's phone away from him. She can be heard telling the manager, "Take the case off that’s mine, literally get it back." Harrold responds to this and says, "You think there’s only one iPhone made in the world?"
Ever since the disturbing incident, Harrold told TMZ that he and his former wife Kat have been in contact with many therapists and their son to receive trauma therapy soon. The teen is said to have asked his father "why me?" after being targetted by Ponsetto.
Harrold said, "I have tried to instill dignity in my son. I'm trying to build his ego because for so long egos of black men have been shattered." Due to the incident, the teenager "wonders if he's good enough to own an iPhone, or whether he's out of place at a nice hotel," his father added.
What adds to the situation is that both the child's parents travel a lot which means that he is now worried about being targeted in other hotels. We had earlier reported that when a New York Post photographer approached Ponsetta coming out of a McDonald's in Fillmore, California, on Friday, January 1, she insisted that she could not understand why the incident had gone viral. “I’m actually 22, so I don’t know what the problem is here,” she said even after the photographer pointed to Harold's son's age. "And I’m also Puerto Rican so thank you. Take care of yourself," she added. Ponsetta donned all black and a coronavirus face shield as she walked into the parking lot. When she was asked if she regretted what happened after the viral video emerged, she said, “I’m good, thank you. Have a very good day. Take care of yourself."
NYPD is currently considering bringing a slew of charges against her, including assault, grand larceny, and attempted robbery, reports said. She had earlier been arrested by the Beverly Hills police back in February for being drunk in public, according to an online docket for the Los Angeles Airport Courthouse cited by the Daily Mail. She was also arrested in May on four DUI counts, according to the Mail, and pled guilty in September with a sentencing hearing set for on January 14.
