A Florida woman has been arrested and charged with a hate crime after allegedly attacking a Black mother and her two young daughters with bear spray while they played in their driveway — and shouting racial slurs during the assault. 114m2d

According to a newly released arrest affidavit from the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, 81-year-old Ada Anderson of Ocala, Florida, was taken into custody on May 30, 2025, after the disturbing incident unfolded on Pine Court Drive.

The victims were 6 and 3 years old pd6y

The victims — April Morant and her two daughters, ages 6 and 3 — were innocently blowing bubbles outside their home when, they say, Anderson approached the metal fence dividing the properties and unleashed a blast of bear mace at them.

“She sprayed bear mace directly at us,” Morant told deputies, according to the report. “It hit me and my daughters. My lungs were burning.”

Even more horrifying were the words allegedly shouted by Anderson during the attack: “Stupid n—!” Morant told officers that her neighbor had repeatedly targeted her family with racist slurs in the past. She provided video footage to investigators showing Anderson yelling profanities, including the N-word, from her porch earlier the same day.

Anderson was seen holding the bear spray canister, police allege 3b85y

Deputies noted in their affidavit that a brownish-orange substance consistent with pepper spray was found on the family’s fence and lawn. The chemical irritated officers’ noses and throats upon inspection. Morant also showed officers a video she captured after the attack, in which Anderson could allegedly be seen holding the bear spray canister.

When officers confronted Anderson at her home, she reportedly itted to spraying a chemical in the family’s direction. She claimed the children had been “running up and down the fence and yelling at her.” Anderson insisted the spray never made with the family — a claim directly contradicted by physical evidence, witness testimony, and cell phone footage.

After being read her Miranda rights, Anderson declined to speak further with deputies. She was arrested without incident and transported to Marion County Jail.

Under Florida Statute 775.085, Anderson’s charge — battery; second or subsequent offense — has been enhanced to a third-degree felony because of the racial motivation behind the alleged attack. The statute allows for harsher penalties when a crime is found to be committed with “evidence of prejudice based on race.”

The Marion County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that all responding deputies’ body-worn cameras were active during the incident.

According to court documents, Anderson is white, while the victims are African American. The case has quickly drawn attention online as another example of what advocates call an alarming rise in racially motivated assaults nationwide.

Civil rights groups are already weighing in. The Southern Poverty Law Center has previously warned of an uptick in hate crimes across Florida, often targeting families and individuals in everyday situations — from walking in their neighborhoods to, in this case, playing with children’s toys.