Woman charged with using baby as weapon - "I didn't mean it."

[MedicCook]

Woman charged with using baby as weapon

ERIE, Pennsylvania (AP) -- A woman used her 4-week-old baby as a weapon in a domestic dispute, swinging the infant through the air and striking her boyfriend with the child, authorities said.

The baby was critically injured in the attack early Sunday, said District Attorney Bradley Foulk.

"Never, never, never. I can never remember anything like this," Foulk told the Erie Times-News.

Chytoria Graham, 27, of Erie, was charged with aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and simple assault. She was held Monday in the Erie County Jail in lieu of $75,000 bail.

The infant, whose name and gender were not released, was taken to a hospital in Pittsburgh. Authorities did not identify the hospital, and the baby's condition Monday was not released.

There was no immediate indication whether the man Graham is accused of attacking was the baby's father.

Authorities removed four other children from Graham's home and placed them with the Erie County Office of Children and Youth, Foulk said.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/10/09/baby.weapon.ap/index.html

[Cutesunshine]

Sick shit.

[MedicCook]

I can not even imagine someone doing this. This is unbelievable.

[sws4420]

I can imagine it and I also think it'd be easy as hell.

[BeautifulDisaster - banned]

I can imagine it and I also think it'd be easy as hell.
^^ What he said.
Not much shocks me anymore. I miss being a kid, compared to now, it seemed like there wasnt a care in the world, for myself or anyone else as far as shit like this happening, now its everywhere you look.

[sws4420]

I could kick some ass using Elliot's big ass.

[sws4420]

ERIE, Pa. - A northwestern Pennsylvania woman accused of using her baby to batter her child's father said she didn't realize what she was doing until it was too late.

Chyrotia Graham, 27, of Erie, told police she had been drinking when an argument with the child's father turned violent early Sunday morning, according to an affidavit filed to support Graham's arrest.

Graham said she "snapped" and began grabbing things and throwing them at Deangelo Troop, 20, not realizing she had picked up her 4-week-old son, Jarron Troop, telling police she held the child by his legs and swung him at his father. Police had said they believed the woman held the baby by the midsection when she hit the man.

Graham was being held in the Erie County Jail on Monday on $75,000 bond. She faces charges of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and simple assault.

Jarron, who was born Sept. 11, suffered a fractured skull and bleeding in the brain after the incident. The infant's head hit Deangelo, who had also fathered one of Graham's other four children.

Deangelo told the Erie Times-News that Graham never meant to hurt their child.

"People are trying to make a big deal about it, but she did not do it on purpose. ... It was just a mistake," he said.

Defense attorney Alison Scarpitti, who was assigned by the Erie County Public Defender's Office to represent Graham, said Monday she could not comment because she had not met with Graham.

Police said Troop punched Graham in the eye after she put the baby down, and police photos later showed her eye blackened and swollen shut.

Authorities said there was no indication that Troop had hit his son but that they were reviewing the case to see if any charges might be warranted.

"I don't anticipate any at this time," Erie police Capt. Frank Kwitowski said Monday.

Officials at Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh declined to release information about the baby early Tuesday. He was flown to the hospital by helicopter after the incident.

Authorities removed Graham's other children from the home. The Erie County Office of Children and Youth granted temporary custody to their maternal grandparents, Gloria Graham and Cornell Petty of Erie.


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061010/ap_on_re_us/baby_as_weapon;_ylt=Au7BwG3vfrqBU2xJjIYEgrms0NUE;_ ylu=X3oDMTA3ODdxdHBhBHNlYwM5NjQ-

[MedicCook]

"People are trying to make a big deal about it, but she did not do it on purpose. ... It was just a mistake,"

Of course this is a big deal, mistake or not.

[MedicCook]

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2006/LAW/10/14/baby.as.weapon.ap/vert.graham.ap.jpg
Chytoria Graham says she had been drinking and "snapped" the night of the incident, according to police.

ERIE, Pennsylvania (AP) -- Pregnant with her fifth child, Chytoria Graham often walked the streets of her working-class neighborhood, happily pushing her 1-year-old in a stroller while the other children walked alongside her.

"I've never seen her without her kids," said Loretta Ritchie, who lives near Graham. "She always kept the girls' hair combed, dressed real pretty."

But now Graham's children have been taken from her by authorities -- except for 4-week-old Jarron. He is in a hospital after a horrific event that has stunned police and prosecutors, and prompted strangers who read about him to offer to adopt the boy: Authorities say she grabbed the infant by his feet and swung him, hitting her boyfriend and fracturing the baby's skull.

"Unfortunately, I have seen child abuse cases upfront," said Capt. Frank Kwitowski, a 20-year Erie police officer. "But this is the first time I've seen a child actually picked up and used as a weapon."

David Kolko, a professor of psychiatry, psychology and pediatrics at the University of Pittsburgh, said child abuse most often happens because of a direct conflict with the child. This case, though, doesn't seem to follow the rule.

"But we only hear about the tragedies and the bad cases and we assume this is an exception," Kolko said. "We have a very skewed view of what physical abuse means."

The abuse Graham is accused of is rare, but not unheard of, said Judith Cohen, medical director of Allegheny General Hospital's Center for Traumatic Stress in Children and Adolescents, a Pittsburgh center that sees more than 300 patients annually.

"Many children die every year from their parents beating and battering them," she said.

Erie County's Office of Children and Youth, like other child welfare agencies in the state, can't comment on whether Graham had a history of abuse. But defense attorney Alison Scarpitti said: "There's nothing in her background (to indicate) she would do anything to harm a child."

Police say Graham told them she had been drinking and "snapped." Her attorneys say Graham, who is unemployed and lives with her boyfriend, 20-year-old Deangelo Troop, could be suffering from postpartum depression, possibly even battered-woman syndrome.

Police were told Thursday that Jarron, who was delivered by Caesarean section September 11, was in serious but stable condition in a drug-induced coma at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. The baby emerged from the coma on Friday, according to police.

Police arrived at Graham and Troop's apartment at about 3:30 a.m. on October 8, finding broken household items, furniture knocked over and paramedics treating Jarron.

Graham told investigators she was out drinking the night before and argued with Troop when she got home. The argument turned to shoving and pushing.

As Jarron lay in bed wrapped in a blanket, police say, Graham grabbed the infant and swung him at Troop.

When Graham put the child down, they said, Troop punched her in the eye. Graham called 911.

Graham was jailed in lieu of $75,000 bail, charged with aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children, simple assault and reckless endangerment.

Scarpitti said her client was traumatized and kept inquiring about Jarron and her other children. Scarpitti wants Graham to undergo psychological evaluation.

David Agresti, defense co-counsel, believes there's no doubt that Graham is a victim of domestic abuse. "Neighbors have stated it was routine at the house," he said. Police are investigating.

Graham has no criminal record; Troop was arrested in June and charged with possession of crack cocaine and other crimes for allegedly fleeing from police after being involved in a domestic dispute, court records indicate. He faces a preliminary hearing in November.

Graham's other children, ranging in age from 9 to 1, are in the custody of their maternal grandmother, Gloria Graham. Troop is the father of the 1-year-old and Jarron.

Scarpitti says Graham remembers little about the incident.

"She remembers walking in that night and she remembers her baby after the incident," Scarpitti said. "She doesn't remember her time with police."

Agresti insists Graham's possible mental state shouldn't be ignored.

"Using the child as a weapon -- that is not a symptom that is so common," said Koushik Mukherjee, a psychiatrist with Mercy Behavioral Health in Pittsburgh.

Postpartum depression can lead to psychotic behavior in some women "where they can get aggressive or violent toward the baby, where they don't want the baby," he said.

Investigators are focusing on facts, not speculation about Graham's mental state.

"The facts are there's an injured baby and (Graham) said she did it," Kwitowski said. "The arguments come later."

http://www.cnn.com/2006/LAW/10/14/baby.as.weapon.ap/index.html