Disclaimer: self-defense laws are complicated.
You have to be able to prove that you used reasonable force to stop the threat.
And, if you cause serious injury, you may get charged with aggravated assault.
When you escalate the force, you become the aggressor.
Let’s say that a girl slaps you.
And that you retaliate, punch her, and break her nose.
The girl hitting you was a simple battery.
But you escalated the amount of force used.
So, with the force that you used, that could get categorized as either:
You’ll need to reach out to a criminal lawyer to get legal advice.