Police in Florida have arrested two women suspected of child abuse in Daytona Beach. Brianna Lafoe, 19, and Sierrah Newell, 20, allegedly threw a baby back and forth aggressively near several businesses near Wild Olive Avenue and Seabreeze Boulevard. Witnesses concerned for the baby’s safety call police.
Daytona Beach Police responded about 1 a.m. Thursday after the women allegedly mistreated the baby and got into an altercation with witnesses who began recording the women on their phones. The child was taken to Halifax Hospital with visible injuries.
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The women were reportedly walking around with little clothing on.
The women were allegedly drunk and half-naked on the street outside multiple businesses, according to a report from WESH. Witnesses claimed they saw Lafoe throwing the child in the air and wanted to stop her. This reportedly made her more aggressive, and Newell got involved.
Surveillance video shows Lafoe attacking a bar patron.
The video taken by a nearby business shows Lafoe and Newell on the sidewalk near an establishment with customers outside. Witnesses told WESH they tried telling the women to stop being so aggressive with the baby, but the women did not stop. That’s when a woman got out her phone, seemingly to record the incident.
Lafoe apparently didn’t like that.
The surveillance shows Lafoe moving toward the woman, and it looks like she is trying to take the phone from her hands. She does this all with the baby in her arms. Witnesses said this was when the incident took a more violent turn.
As a woman told WESH, “So in return, she started throwing the baby a little bit more aggressively, in my opinion.”
The alleged abuse reportedly got worse.
According to an arrest affidavit obtained by the news outlet, Lafoe took the baby, held him by the ankles, and shook the infant while he was upside down. She reportedly dangled the baby over hard concrete, upsetting witnesses and business owners.
Shawn Knapp, manager of Crazy John’s Daytona Beach, said it was deeply disturbing. “You just have to feel. It hurts. You have to feel for that baby,” he said.
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The women were arrested and charged.
Police arrested the women and took them to jail, where they are being held without bond, WESH reported. The Florida Department of Children and Family was contacted, but the baby’s whereabouts are unknown. X-rays reportedly showed the baby may have a broken arm in addition to red marks on his back.
According to their Facebook pages, the women are engaged. It was not clear who the baby belongs to.
This is not the first arrest for Lafoe. Deputies in Callaway County, Missouri, arrested her in June 2022 on a suspected burglary charge. She was reportedly released from Calloway County Jail with a summons for court.
If you suspect child abuse, you can call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453 (1-800-4-A-Child) or go to Childhelp.org. The hotline is available 24/7.
