Mississippi mother accused of sending pictures of herself choking toddler with car charger
Santangela Turner allegedly claimed that she left the three-month-old girl in the woods.
A mother-of-two in Mississippi has been accused of child abuse after she allegedly claimed that she choked her child with a car charger, attempting to kill her. She also claimed she left the child in the woods.
Santangela Turner reportedly sent pictures of the abuse to someone, who later filed a complaint with the Child Protective Services (CPS). The name of the complainant has not been disclosed.
The 26-year-old accused woman had reportedly sent the photographs over text messages to the complainant, allegedly showing herself pulling a white cord around the neck of the three-month-old baby girl. The picture showed the toddler crying, while another picture showed the child lying on her back with a knife pointed at the baby's neck.
The Jones County Sheriff's Office said in a statement that the woman allegedly threatened to harm the baby in text messages sent to the complainant.
Turner was arrested on Monday (18 December) and was charged with felonious child abuse, the Daily Mail reported.
The woman has no criminal past and her family members said that she was suffering from post-delivery depression and pursuing psychological help. She made her first appearance in court on Tuesday.
A bond of $10,000 (£7,468) was set for Turner's bail by a judge, who ordered her to be away from children, including her own. She was released from jail on Wednesday afternoon.
The incident happened almost a month after a New York woman was arrested for allegedly drowning her 10-day-old son in a bathtub inside her apartment, leading to his death.
Markiya Mitchell, the 25-year-old mother, later admitted to committing the crime. She reportedly left the infant, Jeremiah, submerged in the bathtub for one to two hours on 13 November.
Though child abuse has long been known to impact people from all demographics, data in recent years show a dramatic rise. A report titled Child Maltreatment 2014 indicated that 79.3% of ill-treatment of American children happen at the hands of their own parents.
Among various reasons that led to the rise in the child abuse cases, the report stated that one evident reason was the rise in the number of single mothers and tougher economic scenario in the country that is pushing the mothers to juggle work and children.
