A mother from Humble, Texas is facing charges, including child endangerment and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. The authorities say she sent videos to her son's father, showing her burning their one-year-old son, covering his head with a plastic bag and stuffed some of it into his mouth.
Authorities said the 23-year-old mother, identified as Jamelle Peterkin, committed the crime last March 13 inside her car. For the burning, Peterkin used a cigarette to abuse her son while filming it. Investigators said Peterkin admitted the crime, as well as sending the videos to her son's father because he did not care that much about their child.
On Monday, the authorities released an order of protection against Peterkin. They ordered her not be within 200 feet of the child, who is now in the custody of Peterkin's mother. The accused also paid the $15,000 bond so she is out on bail. They scheduled her next court appearance on May 15, People revealed.
It remained unclear who the father of the child is but police said that the sister of Peterkin's former boyfriend took the initiative to report the incident to the police. Ra'Neicha Broadnax, the sister of the ex-boyfriend, said that her brother tried to block Peterkin's number.
Moreover, Broadnax revealed her brother's current girlfriend saw the videos on his phone, as well as the photos of the abuse so she called her. Broadnax added that the police did not take action on the matter at first so she took to Facebook to get their attention.
Broadnax continued to say that Peterkin sent more than 30 videos and in one video, Peterkin spat on her son's face twice. The former boyfriend's sister said she never questioned Peterkin's parenting as she posts on Facebook a photo or anything about her son every day. Broadnax added, "We thought everything was good, and then we found out this was going on. She told me it was a one-time thing."
In Texas, they criminalize physical, emotional or sexual abuse of minors and require third parties with knowledge of the maltreatment to report about it. For any form of abuse against a minor, one must call the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, and an investigation will then ensue, FindLaw reported.
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