Atlantic City mayor, wife, city's public schools chief, indicted for allegedly beating teen daughter

The mayor of Atlantic City, New Jersey, and his wife, the superintendent of schools for the coastal resort city, have been indicted on child endangerment and other charges for allegedly beating their teen daughter on numerous occasions, according to county prosecutors. 

The grand jury indictment against Mayor Marty Small Sr. and wife La'Quetta Smalls accuses the couple of child endangerment and Marty Small of assault and making terroristic threats, the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office said Wednesday.

Prosecutors say both parents hit and emotionally abused the girl, who was 15 to 16 years old, on multiple occasions in January and in December 2023.

“All people have heard is one side of the story,” Small told the Associated Press. “We look forward to telling our side.”

He also said his daughter remains at home with her parents.

“They are totally innocent and will be totally exonerated," the mayor's lawyer, Ed Jacobs, said about the couple. 

Prosecutors alleged that on Jan. 13, 2024, the mayor hit his daughter multiple times in the head with a broom, causing her to lose consciousness, the wire service also reports.