A Northwest Arkansas woman allegedly punched her 3-month-old son in the face because he wouldn’t stop crying, according to court documents filed this week charging the mother with a pair of felony battery charges.
Authorities said they arrested 21-year-old Britney Kierin Joe Sunday after officers responded to her mother’s home in Rogers. Joe’s mother told police Joe called her earlier saying she hit the infant.
“Britney was hysterical,” a probable cause affidavit filed this week read. “Britney told her [mother] that she had punched [her son] in the face because he would not stop crying.”
Investigators noted the child had swelling around his eyes and darkening around his head after doctors checked him at the Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Springdale, the affidavit said.
A witness reportedly told investigators they saw Joe strike another child with a phone cord. Joe allegedly shoved the child from behind too, court records said.
She faces two counts of second-degree domestic battery, with both felony charges carrying up to six years in prison and $10,000 in fines.
Joe remained at the Benton County jail Thursday with bond set at $7,500.
County records didn’t list an attorney to comment on her behalf. She's set to appear in court on May 13.