Mother Hits Crying Toddler At Grocery Store, Gets Arrested For Child Abuse

A woman allegedly struck a 2-year-old girl multiple times inside a Kentucky grocery store.

Police confronted the woman, who claimed she assaulted the toddler because she was "overstimulated" by the child's crying.

Danielle K. Bryant, 22, was arrested Tuesday and charged with criminal abuse of a child 12 or under, according to WAVE.

The mother was reportedly captured on surveillance video with the 2-year-old girl inside a Kroger store in Elizabethtown at around 8:30 p.m. Monday. While they were at one of the self-checkout lanes, the toddler fell out of the shopping cart and started crying.

The accused woman was caught slapping the child with her open hand and pulling her hair in the surveillance footage, according to WDRB News.

Bryant told the toddler to "shut the f*** up" before striking her, one witness told cops.

The same witness saw Bryant take the girl to her vehicle and put the child in a car seat before getting into the driver's seat. However, when the little girl continued to cry, Bryant went back and slapped her in the face again, officials said.

Bryant hit the child three to five times, the witness told cops.

The child abuse incident was reported to law enforcement officials, who then identified the woman and questioned her.

Bryant told cops she hit the child as she was "overstimulated because of her crying."

She also told cops that the child had bitten her while she was placing her in the car seat, after which she "lost it," according to the arrest report. Bryant said she "blacked out" before striking the toddler.

The child was found with redness and swelling on her face, officials said.

Bryant was held at the Hardin County Detention Center following her arrest.

A similar incident was reported in Dec. 2022 after a man was accused of intentionally dropping a 4-month-old baby on the ground inside a Florida Walmart. Witnesses told cops that they saw Patrick Abbott, 31, dropping the infant at least four times before an off-duty officer at the store arrested him. The man claimed he dropped the infant once "by accident."