Alachua woman arrested for hitting juvenile in the head with a hammer

Staff report

ALACHUA, Fla. – Sherrita Marquette Poitier, 50, of Alachua, was arrested on February 18 for allegedly hitting a juvenile female in the head with a hammer during a fight between multiple juveniles that involved her child.

At about 5:52 p.m. on December 14, 2025, the Alachua Police Department received numerous phone calls about a fight between multiple people near the 13300 block of NW 155th Place. The caller reportedly said that children were fighting, and an adult came in and hit a juvenile victim in the head with a hammer.

The caller reportedly took a picture of the suspect’s car, and officers determined that the car belonged to Poitier; officers also found that Poitier’s child was involved in the fight, and Poitier lives near the location of the fight.

Multiple witnesses reportedly completed sworn written statements attesting that Poitier engaged in the fight and hit the victim in the head with a hammer; based on these statements, the detective wrote that it appeared Poitier participated in the fight, rather than attempting to stop the fight. All of the witnesses reportedly said that Poitier intentionally struck the juvenile victim in the head or face with a hammer, resulting in a laceration above the victim’s eye that required stitches. Witnesses also reportedly said that after Poitier hit the victim, she threatened other people with the hammer, dropped the hammer, and then picked it back up before driving away.

A detective spoke with Poitier by phone, and she reportedly denied being involved and said she didn’t know how her name came up; when she was told that multiple witnesses said she was involved in the fight and that she was the person who injured the victim, she denied this and said no one knew her name, so she did not know how they could say it was her. Poitier reportedly never admitted her involvement in the fight, but she said her child who was involved in the fight had been “jumped” by other children in the past. She said she had not contacted law enforcement about these incidents because her child “fights back.”

Poitier has been charged with aggravated child abuse. She has no local criminal history, and the arrest warrant signed by Judge James Colaw ordered her held without bail pending a hearing on a motion from the State Attorney’s Office to hold her without bail until trial; if the judge denies the motion, bail will be set at that hearing.

Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.