Was Cheyenne Williams Attacked Because She's Lesbian?

April 22, 2010 — -- The mother of a high school girl who was allegedly beaten and nearly thrown off a Kentucky cliff by three friends says her daughter was attacked because she is gay.

"It's a hate crime," said Dee Johnson, the mother of high school senior Cheyenne Williams. "There is evidence."

Johnson said she was advised not to go into details because of the ongoing investigation, but said her daughter managed to take cellphone video while fending off her alleged attackers at a 50-foot waterfall near McKee, Ky.

Johnson said the video evidence will show that the attack was a hate crime, but she can't discuss the details of the video because it is now part of the investigation.

When asked how her daughter was able to defend herself and take a video of the incident, Johnson said, "When you think you're getting killed, you take a video and hope the police will find it after you're killed."

She said Cheyenne eventually escaped her attackers by using a stick to defend herself.

Corrine Schwab and Ashley Sams, both 18, have been charged with kidnapping and attempted murder. Both are free on bail. The third suspect is a juvenile and has not been identified by police because of her age. It is also not known what charges she faces.

According to Timothy Crawford, the attorney for the Jackson County High School where all four girls were students, the attack happened last Friday, April 16, when the three suspects offered to drive Williams, 18, to a job interview.

When the interview was delayed, the girls instead drove Williams to Flat Lick Falls, according to Crawford, where they allegedly "hit her and beat her and threatened her and left her."