Stay Connected
Atlanta Black Star/Local
LocalNews

Belt-Wielding Georgia Man Attacks 15-Year-Old Black Boy Because He Was Upset Over the Teen’s Language While Playing Basketball with Friends

Posted byBy Niara Savage | Published on: CommentsComments (0)

A belt-wielding west Georgia man was arrested after he attacked a Black teenager because the boy was allegedly using profanity while playing basketball with cousins outside his aunt’s Villa Rica home.

The July 10 incident was captured on a home surveillance camera, which shows 29-year-old Matt Martel confronting 15-year-old Maliyk Sim, belt in hand. “I was just panicked. I could not believe that in 2021 a fully grown man would think that it was OK to come outside with a belt,” said the teen’s mom, Latika Sim told 11Alive. Martel, who was arrested on Monday, July 12, faces charges of assault, battery, cruelty to children, and disorderly conduct.

She added that the video shows Martel “running full speed at him,” and that her son was completely “caught off-guard.”

Footage shows 29-year-old Matt Martel confronting 15-year-old Maliyk Sim, belt in hand. (Photo: 11Alive screenshot)

Martel reportedly told the police he was angry because Martel was using profanity as he played basketball with his cousins. Footage shows Martel confronting the teen, before grabbing the front of his shirt before the two left the view of the camera. A crash is heard while the two are off camera.

“And he grabbed me with his hands around my neck. He threw me up against a garage and I hit my head,” Sim said, adding that he was in shock but afraid to fight back because he feared he would get into trouble.

“My son has played football, he has played every sport, he is fully capable of defending himself. But he knew he could not defend himself. So he walked away. He walked away and still this man is chasing him with a belt. So now I am in a full panic because my kids are unprotected,” said Sim’s mother. She was inside her sister’s home at the time, and rushed over and called the police.

Police arrested 29-year-old Matt Martel for attacking a neighboring Georgia teenager who was playing basketball with his cousins in his own driveway. (Photo: Carroll County Sheriff’s Office)

“I have worked in child care for 15 years. I have had kids say crazy things to me, I have had them hit me, I have never once thought, let me take my belt off, and beat someone else’s kid. So even when he’s texting saying, he heard my son say a curse word, I do not care,” she said, adding that she wished Martel would have contacted her or another family member if they were concerned about the teen’s language.

Still independent.

We hope this story was worth your time. For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed Black-owned and independently run. We didn't get here by waiting on ad budgets that were never built to prioritize us. Our readers did that.

Corporate support for Black media has always been thin. Outlets like ours get roughly 1% of the $170 billion spent on U.S. advertising each year, and that margin is shrinking further as advertisers walk back the DEI-linked commitments they made in 2020. That's the backdrop. It's not why we're asking.

The wider picture isn't any steadier. Newspaper ad revenue has fallen more than 80% since 2005, and local newsrooms are closing at a rate of roughly two a week nationwide. When outlets go under, it's rarely the ones built to center a Black perspective from the ground up that get to stick around.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Give once Give monthly Support another way

Related Stories

Back to top