December 17, 2025
Tanya Breen/USA TODAY NETWORK
Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr. faces multiple charges for alleged physical and emotional abuse of his teenage daughter. Small, 51, is shown above during an April 2024 event at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park.
July deliberations continued Wednesday in the child abuse case against Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr., whose political career now hangs in the balance.
The trial surrounds allegations that Small and his wife physically and emotionally abused their teenage daughter during a string of incidents at the family's home nearly two years ago.
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Small, a 51-year-old Democrat who was reelected in November, faces multiple charges for allegedly striking his daughter with a broom, slamming her down a staircase and punching her repeatedly during arguments about her boyfriend and poor performance at school.
Small's wife, La'Quetta, 49, faces separate child abuse charges in a case that will go to trial in January.
Atlantic County prosecutors indicted the Smalls last year after their daughter, then 16, reported her parents' alleged abuse to a counselor at Atlantic City High School. The school's principal, Constance Days-Chapman, is Marty Small's former campaign manager. La'Quetta Small is the superintendent of Atlantic City Public Schools.
Prosecutors said Days-Chapman failed to report the claims to the state, prompting an investigation into the allegations that Small's daughter brought to the school counselor. Authorities raided the family's home, collecting laptops and cellphones to find evidence about what happened during family conflicts in December 2023 and January 2024.
Small is charged with counts of endangering the welfare of a child, aggravated assault, making terroristic threats and witness tampering. The mayor allegedly pressured his daughter to "twist up" her story and present more favorable recollections of the family's struggles, prosecutors said.
The jury's deliberations, which began Tuesday afternoon, will pick up again Thursday after the jurors sent several questions to New Jersey Superior Court Judge Joseph Levin on Wednesday.
If convicted, Small would be required to forfeit his office before being sworn in for his second full term in January. City Council would then need to appoint an interim mayor before a special election is held.
During Small's weeklong trial, investigators showed jurors photos of bruises on his daughter's face and body and played recordings of family arguments taken from a cellphone and iPad belonging to the girl's boyfriend. Small's daughter testified against her father, recounting how he allegedly beat her with a broom until she was left unconscious during one argument.
Small, who took the stand last week, denied physically harming his daughter and said their relationship suffered when the girl began dating a man he described as controlling and manipulative. He claimed his daughter was threatening him with a butter knife the day he allegedly used a broom to fend her off.
Small's attorney, Louis Barbone, argued that prosecutors lacked sufficient evidence and overstepped by getting involved in a private, family matter. Barbone said Small's daughter exaggerated her injuries, pointing to testimony from a nurse practitioner who said she could not confirm whether the girl suffered a concussion.
Prosecutors called on testimony from a pediatrician who said the girl's injuries were "nonaccidental," and they played recordings that suggested Small struggled to control his anger toward his daughter.
“I can’t take this girl no more because she will make me go to jail,” Small allegedly told his wife in one recording as they discussed their daughter.
La'Quetta Small is accused of repeatedly beating her daughter, dragging her by her hair and striking her with a belt during incidents at the family's home. She has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child and disorderly persons simple assault.
Days-Chapman, who is now suspended as principal of Atlantic City High School, is charged with official misconduct, endangering the welfare of a child and hindering apprehension for failing to report the alleged abuse.
More than 40 character witnesses testified on behalf of the mayor, including retired Atlantic City Police Chief Henry White, former Stockton University President Harvey Kesselman and developer Bart Blatstein, who owns the Showboat hotel.
On Wednesday morning, the jury made several requests to revisit evidence and receive clarification about the charges, the Press of Atlantic City reported.
Jurors asked to hear a recording in which Small threatened to "earth slam" his daughter down a set of stairs and requested dates when the mayor found sexually explicit text messages between his daughter and her boyfriend. The jurors also sought a simplification of the definitions of simple assault and aggravated assault, and asked for clarification about the definitions of corporal punishment and willful neglect.
Small was appointed mayor in 2019, replacing Mayor Frank Gilliam, who had resigned after pleading guilty to stealing $87,000 from a youth basketball league. The following year, Small was elected to his first full term. He won his bid for reelection in November with about 62% of the vote, defeating Republican opponent Naeem Ahmed Khan despite the looming trial.
This is a developing story that will be updated.
