Two Florida women are facing child abuse charges for allegedly tossing a baby into the air while drunk at a bar, which may have resulted in injuries to the child, WESH-TV reports.
The incident allegedly occurred shortly before 1 a.m. on Thursday outside the Coyote Ugly Saloon in Daytona Beach.
Authorities say 19-year-old Brianna Lafoe and 20-year-old Sierrah Newell were tossing the child back on forth on a sidewalk about 4 feet apart when witnesses seated nearby told the women to stop, according to Fox 35.
“In return, (Lafoe) started throwing the baby up and down a little too aggressively,” Jahada Rasheed, one of the witnesses, told WESH-TV.
Security camera footage shows Lafoe walking toward the group with a baby in her arms and then striking a woman and “screaming threats,” according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal.
“And then what she did that really surprised me, then she put the baby upside down. It was like hold up. This is getting way too far,” Rasheed said, according to WESH-TV.
Newell was reportedly using crutches at the time and was threatening to hit people, according to the newspaper.
An arrest report obtained by WESH-TV shows that one of the arrested women held the baby upside down by its ankles and began shaking the boy.
The child was brought to a hospital, where staff found red marks on the baby’s back and an X-ray revealed a potentially broken bone. The age of the child was not released.
Prosecutors charged Lafoe and Newell with child abuse, while Lafoe also faces a separate charge of battery. Newell has been released and Lafoe is being held on $3,500 bond.
Authorities notified the state’s Department of Children and Families about the matter. The child’s relationship to the two women was not immediately clear.
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[Feature Photo: Brianna Lafoe and Sierrah Newell/Volusia County Sheriff’s Office]
