Atlantic City mayor, schools chief accused of abusing their daughter

Authorities have levied a series of charges against Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small and his wife, Atlantic City Schools Superintendent La’Quetta Small, alleging the two physically and emotionally abused their 16-year-old daughter.

Mayor Small, 50, is accused of beating his daughter with a broom so severely that she fell unconscious and of repeatedly punching her in the legs.

“Another incident alleged that Marty Small, Sr., during an argument with his daughter, continuously threatened to hurt her by ‘earth slamming’ her down the stairs, grabbing her head and throwing her to the ground, and smacking the weave out of her head,” prosecutors said in a statement issued Monday.

The mayor, a Democrat, faces charges of endangering the welfare of a child, terroristic threats, aggravated assault, and disorderly persons simple assault. La’Quetta Small is charged with endangering the welfare of a child and three counts of disorderly persons simple assault.

La’Quetta Small is accused of repeatedly beating her daughter, dragging her by her hair, and striking her with a belt.

The charges come after authorities executed multiple search warrants on Small’s Atlantic City home in late March on the same day prosecutors charged Atlantic City High School Principle Constance Days-Chapman with failing to report alleged child abuse to state child welfare workers.

Days-Chapman managed Small’s 2021 reelection campaign.

Edwin Jacobs Jr., an attorney for Marty Small, in a statement said prosecutors were second-guessing the Smalls’ parenting.

“He and his wife LaQuetta and their two children remain a close and loving and intact family. Mayor Small and Superintendent LaQuetta Small are completely innocent of any wrongdoing and will ultimately be vindicated,” Jacobs said in a statement.

During a press conference in early April, Small said the search of his home was related to a private family matter.

Small’s predecessor, former Mayor Frank Gilliam, resigned in 2019 after pleading guilty to wire fraud charges, admitting to embezzling $86,000 from a youth basketball league he founded. The city’s council appointed Small, then its president, to fill his seat.