Sharkeisha victim Sharmichael Manuel, the unsuspecting girl on the receiving end of the sucker punch heard 'round the Internet, is breaking her silence.
Manuel, 17, told KHOU-TV in Houston that she was set up to receive the savage beating on video, and was astounded when her former friend struck.
The video of Sharmichael getting laid out by Sharkeisha last month went viral on Instagram on Twitter, where it was removed for terms of use violations.
It remains online elsewhere, however, and the Cypress Creek High School (Tex.) senior is far from pleased about it, saying the notoreity adds insult to injury.
She says she was ambushed November 19 after being led to an apartment complex under false pretenses, believing she was picking up some belongings.
Instead she was straight up pummeled by Sharkeisha (below).
The video, recorded with a phone, shows 16-year-old Sharkeisha talking to Manuel, then out of nowhere, blindsiding her with a sucker punch to the face.
The victim crumpled to the ground, while Sharkeisha kept wailing on Manuel with uppercuts and even a brutal kick to the face before bystanders intervene.
"I was just in shock. I was like oh my God. Did she really do this? You're supposed to be my close friend," Manuel said. "We were talking in school earlier that day."
"She made it seem like there was nothing wrong."
The fight broke out over a boy, Manuel told the news site, and after Sharkeisha finished the assault, a neighbor drove the battered teenager home.
Manuel was left dazed, with a black eye and a busted lip. She hasn't returned to school since the attack and now has trouble seeing out of her eye.
"It is hurting and crushing to me," Manuel said in her interview.
"I felt humiliated, embarrassed and hurt at the same time."
The physical pain was just the beginning for her, too.
Sharkeisha has become a viral star, with many praising her attack (or at least enjoying the act of watching it), and for the victim, that's the real tragedy.
Manuel's mother, Olevia Henderson, told KHOU:
"The video just keeps going and going. They're making jokes, and they're taunting. They're glorifying Sharkeisha, but they're taunting my daughter."
"I was in the grocery store ... the baggers were just laughing and talking about it. I said, 'That's my daughter in that video,' and their whole expression changed."
As the video gained traction on social media, users made "Sharkeisha" a national trending topic and memes of the assault were shared incessantly.
Rumors even began to circulate early on that beating victim Manuel, who wasn't yet identified at that point, had committed suicide. Not the case.
Henderson informed their school's assistant principal, but was told there was nothing that could be done since it didn't take place on school grounds.
She has, however, that a report was filed with the Harris County Sheriff's Office, though it's unclear if any action has been taken against the assailant.
Sharkeisha: Should she be prosecuted?
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