After months of police investigations, two arrests were made in connection to the case of Jada, a 16-year-old high school student, who was allegedly drugged and raped at a peer’s party in Houston last July. Jada along with her spokesperson, Quanell X, appeared on MSNBC’s Ronan Farrow Daily yesterday to share news of the development. Farrow reported that one adult and one minor have been arrested. No names have been released.
In the weeks following the alleged assault, images began to circulate online of Jada’s limp, naked body on the floor from the night of the attack. Some of her classmates were sharing the exploitative photos on social media with the hashtag #jadapose, making fun of Jada’s state of unconsciousness. As a response, Jada courageously started her own hashtag: #iamjada, which Farrow shared on Twitter. The photo was retweeted by supporters of the teen more than 500 times in the first 24 hours online.
“It’s wonderful about the arrests, but I’m just grateful and thankful for everyone who followed and supported me,” Jada told Farrow yesterday.
Jada, who is planning on going to college to study pharmacy, is hoping to further her social media influence and help make a difference in her Texas community.
“We’re attempting to work with state legislators right here in Texas to make cyber bullying a crime. So many people out there that are victims of sexual assault, but they don’t want to be bullied through social media so they tend to keep their stories to themselves…” Quanell X said.
As for her own case, Jada told Farrow, “I would like to see justice. Justice in full effect, and that’s it.”