"I'm scared I'm never gonna wake up again," the Atlantic City mayor's daughter wrote in messages to her boyfriend about the aftermath of her parents' alleged abuse.
The second day of Marty Small's criminal trial started Tuesday with the now-17-year-old taking the stand.
Small is accused of abusing the girl physically and verbally, and ignoring the aftermath of abuse by his wife, Atlantic City Superintendent of Schools Dr. La'Quetta Small.
Dr. Small is set to be tried next month, followed by suspended Atlantic City High School Principal Constance Days-Chapman, who is accused of failing to report the abuse allegations.
At the center of the case is an incident in which the girl was allegedly beaten unconscious with a broom, and later told to "twist up" the story to clear her father.
Defense attorney Lou Barbone told jurors in his opening Monday that it was the teen who picked up the broom — along with a butter knife — to come at her father, and she wound up falling and striking her head during a tussle.
"How could I have the knife and pick up the broom at the same time?" she asked Barbone when he offered the same scenario during cross-examination Tuesday. "That's a lie, and he (Small) knows it's a lie."
During direct testimony, she said that she and her parents were arguing that Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024, because she did not want to go to a planned peace walk in the city.
At one point, she was in the second-floor laundry room when her father approached and she threw liquid detergent at him, she testified.
The girl then went to her room, where her father followed, she said.
"He picked up the broom up and hit me with it," the teen testified.
She said she believes the broom was on her bed because "I don't remember him bending down to get it."
Her father struck her with it "more than once," she said, pointing to her upper right temple when asked where she was struck.
She said she did not recall how many times she was struck, but woke up on the floor looking up at her ceiling fan.
Her father and brother were over her, with he dad telling her brother to get her some water, she said.
Her mother also was there.
"You're doing too much," the girl quoted Dr. Small as saying.
Barbone later pointed to one of eight interviews the teen had with investigators, where she said she was struck with the bristle end of the broom.
When asked how the bristles would knock her out, she said she did not know. She also could not recall exactly how her father swung the broom when he allegedly struck her.
J.S. took photos of her injuries and sent them via Instagram messages to her boyfriend, who also is expected to testify in the trial.
She talked of being in pain and crying herself to sleep.
"I really need to go to the hospital but I don't want to go with La'Quetta or Marty," she said of her parents.
Her mother did wind up taking her to the hospital two days later — three days after the alleged attack — after she said she told "Miss Mandy" she had a headache.
"Miss Mandy" was her high school principal, Constance Days-Chapman, the family friend now charged with official misconduct for allegedly failing to report an abuse claim the girl later made to her.
But during cross-examination, Barbone asked the girl about exaggerated the problem in the messages to her boyfriend.
She said she did not.
He then pointed to an interview with investigators.
"I fell in the shower," she told them of one instance. "I exaggerated. He (her father) didn't hit me."
She also told them she felt safe.
"I didn't want to get taken away," she said, referencing DYFS, the Child Protective Services department now known as the Division of Child Protection and Permanency.
The girl confirmed that there were no disciplinary issues with her parents until her boyfriend came along, agreeing that her father even tried to help the teen at first.
He took the pair out to the movies and got E.L. a job.
Then, her parents took her phone and found text messages that showed she snuck E.L. into the home.
While she said she did tell her father the two had sex at that time, J.S. testified during cross-examination that they did not.
"Why did you tell your father you did?" Barbone asked.
"I don't know," she said.
Barbone also brought out a check made out to E.L. dated on his 17th birthday.
He asked the girl if she forged her father's signature, which she denied. She said did not know its origins.
She also denied that it was her hand holding a photo of the mayor's credit card in a post on E.L.'s Instagram.
She said it was a screen shot he had taken from someone else.
"I told him to delete it because it was dumb," she said.
An incident between her and the boyfriend that happened last week also was brought up.
The allegations were not detailed before the jury.
J.S. said she was not aware of an ongoing investigation.
On Monday, Atlantic County Prosecutor William Reynolds told the judge that Atlantic City police cleared J.S. of any charges, but that it was sent to the Attorney General's Office due to the conflict.
The soft-spoken teen could barely be heard as she took the stand and gave her name in the packed courtroom.
The courthouse's IT Department had to come in to turn up the microphone, although the issues with hearing the girl remained an issue.
Both the girl's mother and Days-Chapman sat in the back of the courtroom, with La'Quetta Small taking notes. After the morning break, her attorney was seen seated next to her.
The state is expected to complete its case by Friday.
The defense is expected to have several character witnesses.
Barbone indicated during his opening that the mayor will take the stand.
