Marcella Zoia, 19, was all smiles yesterday afternoon after she was swarmed by reporters on her way to her car. Zoia was released on bail from 52 Division police station after being charged with mischief endangering life, mischief involving damage to property and common nuisance for tossing a chair from a high-rise balcony in Toronto.
In video footage taken yesterday, Zoia can be seen coming out of a Starbucks located near College and Yonge Streets, before immediately being swarmed by media personnel. The 19-year old appeared excited by the sudden barrage of attention, even going as far as to cheerfully greet reporters as they badgered her with questions.
Understandably, her behaviour in the brief clip had many Torontonians upset as they flooded to various media sites to express their opinions about the young lawbreaker. "I knew this was going to happen. She will serve absolutely no jail time and will probably get talk show appearances and a book deal." wrote one Redditor with another demanding for the media to "stop giving her attention."
Local Instagram stars also weighed in on Zoia's predicament with @the6atsix dedicating a whole video to her, which has been met with some criticism. Zoia also now has nearly 7,000 followers since reactivating her Instagram account yesterday.
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Zoia has remained tightlipped about the incident and has so far refused to speak directly to any reporters; her lawyer had this to say: "She's a young lady, and a mistake happened. This is not a case whereby, we don't know who did it," her attorney, Greg Leslie, stated while standing outside court. He continued to say, it's clear from voices in the background of the video, that she was under "peer pressure" and suffered from a "momentary lapse of judgment."
READ ALSO: Toronto's Alleged Chair Thrower Marcella Zoia Released On Bail With Court Date Set For March
Despite her smiles in front of the camera, though, Zoia's lawyer has also stated that all of the social media attention she's received since the video went viral has been "traumatic" for her.
Zoia is not due back in court until March 22nd and has been ordered to live with her mother in the meantime. It was revealed in court Wednesday that Zoia is reportedly studying to be a dental hygienist and has been working at nightclubs as a bottle-service girl for "high-end clientele".
It is unknown at this time how severe her punishment will be, but hopefully, she has learned a valuable lesson from all of this.