Teen busted in 2015 McDonald's gang beatdown punished for terrorizing Rikers Island

Front page of the New York Daily News for March 14, 2015. (NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)

Aniah Ferguson, 19, was moved to a special unit over violent behavior on Rikers Island. (BARRY WILLIAMS/FOR NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)

One of the most violent inmates on Rikers Island is a teen so dangerous she’s being kept in a special unit and forced to wear mittens.

She’s not lovin’ it.

Aniah Ferguson first made headlines in 2015 when she led a gang assault at a Brooklyn McDonald’s — a brutal attack on a girl captured on video. Prosecutors revealed Wednesday that Ferguson, 19, was being held under the tightest possible security conditions after committing a shocking string of infractions.

In just the last five months, Ferguson has attacked an inmate in front of a captain, hurled chairs into a common room and smeared butter on security cameras to mask her misdeeds. She has been cited for 10 infractions since November including punching a jail captain, authorities said.

“Even in a secure location like Rikers, she is a threat to others,” prosecutor Janet Gleeson said.

Gleeson said Ferguson was forced to wear shackles on her wrists and ankles, as well as mittens over her hands, whenever she leaves her single-person cell.

Corrections officials said the teen actually lives in a dorm.


“She has to have mittens because of how abusive and dangerous she is to staff and other people,” Gleeson said.

Ferguson, who suffers from a behavior disorder, was in court after violating the terms of her no-jail plea deal.

Ferguson has attacked an inmate and hurled chairs in front of a captain at Rikers. (JAMES KEIVOM/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)

Gleeson requested that Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Dineen Riviezzo sentence Ferguson to five years in an upstate prison.

Ferguson’s lawyers, Frederick Pratt and Nancy Ginsburg, argued that she belonged in a juvenile detention facility.


“Most people can be saved, most children can be saved, but this is no child,” Gleeson responded.

“This is a violent individual who is going to continue to be violent and never stop being violent . . . I have no doubt Aniah Ferguson will be back in this building.”

Prosecutor Janet Gleeson said Ferguson is a "threat to others" and should have "mittens because of how abusive and dangerous she is to staff and other people." (JAMES KEIVOM/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)

Ferguson was charged with leading the March 2015 beatdown of 16-year-old Ariana Taylor in a three-minute attack that was caught on video and shared across the globe.

Several onlookers snapped photos and took video as Taylor was punched, kicked, pulled and stomped on by Ferguson and a handful of other girls.


It wasn’t until Taylor was lying limp on the floor, with Ferguson stomping on her head, that two customers stepped in.

Ferguson’s hoodie came off during the melee. But she kept pounding on Taylor while wearing only a purple bra.

Ferguson pleaded guilty in November 2015 and, over prosecutors’ protests, was spared jail time.

Instead, a judge sent Ferguson to a Morningside Heights psychiatric facility and ordered her to remain there until a doctor cleared her for release.


But Ferguson’s wild ways didn’t stop.

Two days into her stint at the facility, she stopped taking her meds and started attacking workers and patients, prosecutor said. Ferguson has been diagnosed with mood and conduct disorder, a condition characterized by violence and hostile behavior.

Experts say conduct disorder has been detected in children under 10. It’s difficult to treat therapeutically because of the belligerent nature of those with the mental illness. And without meds, the violence is likely to persist.

Ferguson’s history of violence includes arrests for stabbing her brother and beating up her grandmother.


Ferguson, who is the mother of a toddler and an admitted Folk Nation gang member, will return to court later this month for sentencing.

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