Police said the confrontation began after the woman disciplined her 4-year-old son in a Davie parking lot.
DAVIE, FL — A Weston husband and wife were arrested Wednesday after police said they attacked a woman in a Davie parking lot during a dispute over how she disciplined her young child.
The case centers on a confrontation in the 5400 block of University Drive, where police said the mother had been trying to place her 4-year-old son into her vehicle. Authorities said Terry Williams, 66, and Mary Thalia Williams, 63, intervened after the child’s mother smacked the boy in public. The encounter led to a struggle, visible injuries and criminal charges against both members of the couple.
According to an arrest report, the mother told police her son had been misbehaving and spit in her face before she struck him once in the mouth and once on the side of his torso. Police said Terry Williams approached the woman and claimed he worked for the Florida Department of Children and Families. He told her she could not yell at or hit her child, the report said. The woman told him to leave her alone, and he walked away, according to police.
Investigators said the confrontation continued when Mary Williams approached the mother “aggressively” and tried to talk to her about disciplining the child. The mother told Mary Williams to leave as she tried to get her son into the car, police said. Instead, Mary Williams stood between the woman, the child and the vehicle, preventing them from leaving, according to the arrest report. Police said the mother tried to move Mary Williams out of the way, and the encounter became physical.
The report said Mary Williams scratched and choked the woman until the woman thought she might pass out. Police said Mary Williams also grabbed the woman’s shirt. Terry Williams then moved toward the two women and grabbed the victim’s shirt and hair, according to investigators. Police said the couple tore off the woman’s shirt, leaving her in her bra. Authorities also said Mary Williams entered the woman’s vehicle, turned it off and took the keys.
Officers said they saw numerous scratch marks on the woman’s throat that were consistent with being choked by someone with long nails. The woman also had a cut on her lower lip, according to police. A witness told responding officers that both Mary and Terry Williams pulled the woman by her shirt and hair while she appeared to be trying to get away rather than fight back. “They were on both sides and they were just grabbing her and they were ripping the scrub shirt off of her,” the witness said.
The witness, who did not want to be named publicly, said she was inside her car when she saw the struggle. She said she rolled down her window and shouted, “What’s going on?” The witness said it looked as if the couple was trying to bring the woman to the ground. “She was struggling and that’s why her scrub shirt was being torn off of her,” she said. Police did not report that the child suffered injuries during the confrontation.
Mary Williams was arrested on charges of simple battery and burglary, while Terry Williams was arrested on a battery charge, authorities said. Police said they later confirmed that neither Terry nor Mary Williams works for the Florida Department of Children and Families. As of Thursday afternoon, Mary Williams was being held at the Broward County Main Jail on a $5,000 bond. Terry Williams bonded out later in the day on a $2,500 bond.
When Terry Williams left jail, a reporter asked him what happened. “Nothing,” he said. When the reporter repeated what a witness had said she saw, Williams replied, “Wow, really? Interesting.” Court dates and attorney information were not immediately clear in the available reports. The arrest report did not say whether child welfare officials had opened any separate review tied to the mother’s actions before the parking lot confrontation.
The case remained in the early court stage Thursday, with one suspect released on bond and the other still listed in custody. The next milestone is expected to come through Broward County court records as prosecutors review the police report and decide how to proceed with the charges.
Author note: Last updated May 8, 2026.