KEY POINTS

  • A 19-year-old Florida mom allegedly filmed herself abusing her 5-week-old daughter
  • Her charges included child abuse, child neglect and domestic battery
  • The child is now safe and under observation at a hospital

A woman in Miami-Dade County, Florida, has been arrested after she allegedly filmed herself abusing her 5-week-old daughter and sent the videos to the baby's father, documents showed.

Police arrested Sunday 19-year-old Bryunna Joyce, of Hialeah, on charges including child abuse, child neglect, domestic battery by strangulation and written threats to kill or do bodily injury, WTVJ reported, citing an arrest report.

Investigators said the mother got into an argument with her newborn daughter's father — who was her ex-boyfriend — over text messages and began sending him videos of herself suffocating and repeatedly slapping the baby girl, Miami Herald reported.

In her text messages, Joyce allegedly threatened to kill her daughter and claimed at one point that the child had already died.

"U think I wont kill her say it again," read a text message Joyce sent to the baby's dad, according to the report. "Im just act like its a accident."

According to the arrest report, Joyce could be seen "slapping the [baby] four times" in one video. In another, the teenage mother could be seen "throwing [the baby] off the bed. The defendant is then seen placing her hands over the victim's face for approximately seven seconds" before she slapped the child again, the report stated.

Police said the videos also showed Joyce pushing a blanket onto the infant's face for approximately 37 seconds, which prompted the child to cry and move her face in order to breathe. She also allegedly recorded herself rocking a car seat back and forth, hitting the baby in the head with the bottom of the car seat approximately five times.

The state's Department of Children and Families attempted to find Joyce at her West Sixth Court home after the father sent them the videos. When they were unable to locate her, they contacted the Hialeah Police Department, which mobilized officers for a search throughout Sunday.

Detectives tracked down Joyce and her children at an apartment in Liberty City. As the alleged abuse occurred in Miami, the city's police charged her.

The newborn is now safe and under observation at a hospital. Police did not disclose the extent of the injuries the child suffered.

Another of Joyce's children, a 1-year-old child, is reportedly safe and is now with a relative.

Joyce was booked early Monday into a Miami-Dade jail, where she currently remains detained. The mother appeared in bond court on the same day.

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Representation. The child is now being observed at a hospital. Pixabay