Arkansas Principal Who Created ‘Makeshift Fight Club’ to Assault 13-Year-Old Gets 1 Month in Jail

An Arkansas school principal, Dr. Mary Tracy Morrison, 50, was caught on camera inciting violence between students. However, after she struck a plea deal with prosecutors, her sentence was significantly reduced. According to the latest reports, she will now serve just 30 days in jail and 120 days of house arrest.

Morrison was arrested in April 2025 and charged with 11 felony counts and 19 misdemeanor counts at that time. The arrest came after she was caught on camera encouraging 18 students to assault and verbally abuse their 13-year-old classmate.

After she entered a plea agreement with the court, she was sentenced to 30 days in jail on the felony count of permitting child abuse and four misdemeanor counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. She will also serve a 12-month suspended sentence for each misdemeanor count and five years of probation.

According to an order for probation conditions filed in the case, Morrison will spend 120 days on house arrest following her release from jail. She will be required to wear an electronic ankle monitor, which prohibits her from working with children.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed in the case, the incident came to light after the victim's mother went to the Craighead County Sheriff’s Office to file a report on April 17, 2025. The mother alleged that her son was “being abused, both mentally and physically, at the ENGAGE School and the Delta Institute for Developing the Brain” in Jonesboro.

Officers obtained a warrant following the allegations. Through the warrant, police were allowed to “take possession of audio and video footage from the camera system located inside the school.”

When investigators reviewed the footage, Morrison’s actions came to light. According to the affidavit, the principal "instructed the juvenile child to sit on the floor while being surrounded on the outside by a circle" of 18 students and herself.

In the video, she allegedly told other students to “put their hands on the juvenile child located in the center of the circle.” The video also showed her “putting her hands on the child as well as hitting the child with an unknown object.”

For 30 minutes, Morrison "berated the child the whole time as she watched many of the other students sitting around the circle punch, kick, and choke the juvenile victim, sitting inside the circle."

Prosecuting Attorney Sonia Hagood has described Morrison as the “ringleader” of a “makeshift child fight club.”