New report says mother’s threats to Jamestown principal ended in standoff at parent’s home

Jasmine Childs, left, is accused of threatening to kill Principal Jermeka Ford.

Date: April 21, 2025

Two weeks after a mother was arrested for alleged threats against her child’s principal, the Richmond County School District has released a report detailing the confrontation.

On April 4, Jasmine Childs was charged with making the threats against her child’s principal at Jamestown Elementary School in Hephzibah. She later threatened to end her own life and was given a psychological evaluation before she spent several days in jail on charges of felony terroristic threats as well as disrupting the public school, a misdemeanor. She is free on bond.

Multiple people demanded answers after news of Child’s arrest was first posted on social media. Many wanted to know what the principal did.

“Threatening to unalive someone is never good but something has this mother extremely upset and most moms don’t go to that level without a reason,” Chasity Anderson said on Facebook. “I’ve had to advocate for my kids before and have been extremely angry. .. So I’m curious as to why she got so angry and if there is a legitimate reason.”

A report, released Sunday, doesn’t explain the parent’s motive, but it says Childs came to the school April 4 to withdraw her child. While doing so, Childs became rude and disrespectful to the principal and other staff members.

The report continues, “Childs stated that she will ‘spit’ in Ms. Ford face. Childs made threats towards staff members stating that she would ‘beat their ass too.’ While exiting the building, Childs also stated that ‘I will kill you, I’ll be waiting outside scary ass b***h!’ Multiple witnesses wrote statements corroborating the actions of Childs.”

The parent’s grandfather, Albert McCladdie, was present and tried to get Childs to calm down and stop using profanity towards the staff. He also tried to get her to leave the building several times, the report says.

The principal ordered staff members to take other students out of the main foyer because of the threats and profanity.

“Ford is seen on video approaching Childs to ask her to exit the building. She points to the door several times and then Childs is seen walking towards Ford. Childs eventually leaves the building with her child,” the report says.

Two school officers, including a sergeant, went to Childs’ residence to arrest her. But Childs ran into the house, pushing past her son, as officers followed behind her.

“Childs grabbed a knife on her counter and put it to her neck saying, ‘I’m going to kill myself,’” the report says. “I pulled my service weapon out and commanded Childs to put the knife down.”

The sergeant took the suspect’s son away from the front door so he could not witness the incident. The officer finally convinced Childs to drop the knife after several minutes. Child’s grandfather later arrived to take custody of the woman’s son and daughter.

Childs was taken for a psychological evaluation and later booked into the jail.

The report:

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The Author

Greg Rickabaugh is an award-winning crime reporter in the Augusta-Aiken area with experience writing for The Augusta Chronicle and serving as publisher of The Jail Report. He also owns AugustaCrime.com. Rickabaugh is a 1994 graduate of the University of South Carolina and has appeared on several crime documentaries on the Investigation Discovery channel. He is married with two daughters.

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