A Maryland hairstylist was sentenced to 5 years in prison, with all but 6 months suspended for dragging a client across the salon floor in a dispute over a $150 payment.
Jayla A. Cunningham, 19, was convicted of second-degree assault in November after she was seen in video footage dragging a 15-year-old client at her salon.
Cunningham claimed the girl tried to leave the salon without paying for her services.
A jury convicted Cunningham of second-degree assault, which carries up to 10 years in prison.
Cunningham pleaded with the judge for mercy and no prison time.
“I really do regret what I did,” Cunningham told Judge Michael Pearson in Prince George’s County Circuit Court before he handed down the sentence. “Can you have faith in me? Can you believe in me that I am trying?”
Cunningham’s lawyer said her client already lost her business and her apartment. She begged the judge for leniency.
Judge Pearson said he couldn’t ignore the abuse he saw in the video. The viral video shows Cunningham dragging the girl across the salon floor by her hoodie.
“The disregard you showed that young lady on that day is unacceptable,” Pearson said. “I trust you’re going to learn from it.”
The judge ordered Cunningham to serve 6 months on home detention. She is not allowed to leave home without the court’s permission.
The teenager’s mother pressed charges against Cunningham after the video went viral.
The mother accused Cunningham of telling her daughter “not to move until I get my money.” She said Cunningham cut the weave out of her daughter’s hair with a pair of scissors.
Cunningham showed no remorse in an interview with FOX 5 DC after the incident.
“She ran – forget tried – she ran without paying me,” Cunningham told FOX 5 DC in March.
“I dragged her by her hood back into the salon until I could get paid or, you know, until the police come or until, you know, she let me take out the [weave], because it’s like she literally ran outside. Like she was about to be gone. I feel like if I didn’t do that, she would have been gone and I would have just never been paid.”
Watch the disturbing video below.
A Maryland hairstylist has been charged with assault after posting a now-viral video that showed her dragging a 15-year-old client following a dispute over payment. pic.twitter.com/OLRriJ8RbG
— FOX 5 DC (@fox5dc) March 8, 2025
