One day after Mayor LaToya Cantrell defended her decision to sit with a juvenile carjacker's family during his sentencing, one of the carjacker's victims is responding.
During a Wednesday media briefing, Mayor Cantrell said she didn't pick sides between the offender and the victims. One of those victims is calling "B. S."
"She said she showed us a lot of love, and I didn't feel the same amount of love that she advocates was on display," Stephanie Uddo told WWL's Tommy Tucker. "It felt pretty blatant to me that she had obviously picked a side. There were actually two sides, and she wasn't in the middle. She was not on our side. She was sitting next to the mom."
Uddo confirmed that the mayor did indeed rub her and the other victims on the shoulder and told them, "God bless you." However, Uddo says she didn't feel the same amount of love the mayor said she showed the victims.
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"If she wants to show equal support and that she doesn't pick sides, there needs to be the same level of direct support to each side before during, and after the case."
In fact, Uddo said the mayor's words missed the mark.
"In her words, instead of touching us on the shoulder, she rubbed us. That honestly feels a little tit for tat."
Uddo adds that the mayor missed a golden opportunity to prove that she was on the victims' side.
"I feel like the mayor had every opportunity last night to make things right with the victims, and she failed miserably on that account."
Uddo says Mayor Cantrell's actions--or lack thereof--have left her and the other victims feeling disrespected.
"Had she really understood that our trauma was real, like she said, she would be more understanding why we felt victimized by her and would have reached out to us."
Uddo says the mayor claimed that she didn't have the victims' direct contact information. According to Uddo, her mother has since emailed the mayor to provide that information.
"My mom did end up writing a personal email to LaToya asking her to reach out," Uddo said. "My mom had left her phone number, and then my mom left her name, which I know her and LaToya have a relationship from working in the past."
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