Tag: Child Abuse

Jared Taylor charged with attempted murder of his infant daughter

Jason Steen

25-year-old Jared Taylor is charged with the attempted murder of his infant daughter. The child’s grandmother heard crying at 7:30 p.m. on July 1 and walked in on Taylor while he was standing over the child. He was pressing the child’s head into the bed, appearing to suffocate her. She screamed at him, and he stopped but “appeared unfazed.” He initially claimed he was placing a blanket over the child, but later admitted he was trying to get her to stop crying. He stated he was “not using his full body weight because that would probably snap her neck.” Taylor is jailed in lieu of a $175,000 bond.

Tonya Plunkett jailed after striking her infant with a switch

Jason Steen

20-year-old Tonya Plunkett is charged with felony child abuse after admitting to striking her infant child with a switch. Medics responded to her home when she reported she was experiencing fatigue after her pregnancy, and responding medics observed numerous injuries across the male infant’s body. She told medics she “don’t whoop him hard.” She is free on a $7,500 bond.

Steffany Hamner abandons child in downtown Nashville after assaulting her with boot

Jason Steen

Nashville police say 41-year-old Steffany Rose Hamner was at several bars on Broadway in downtown Nashville Saturday with her 13-year-old daughter. As they were walking at 2nd & Broadway, they were “playing” by grabbing each other’s hair. Steffany fell down during the tussle, and when she stood up, she told her daughter, “I’m gonna beat you!” She then removed her boot and began to strike the victim several times, leaving visible injuries on the juvenile. After the assault, Steffany abandoned her daughter in the Entertainment District without a phone or any supervision and without the address of their AirBNB. Medics transported the child to the hospital, and Hamner was located and jailed on charges of domestic assault and child neglect.

Amany Megali says she bit her child’s arm because he wouldn’t listen to her commands

Jason Steen

30-year-old Amany Megali told detectives during an interview that she bit the arm of her six-year-old son, breaking the skin and leaving a substantial injury, because he was “refusing to listen to her commands.” The Department of Children’s Services and Metro Nashville Police became involved when the child’s father took his son to Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital after he complained of arm pain and stated his mother bit him.

Ricardo Chavez Martinez holds teen son’s face into pillow until he loses consciousness

Staff Reports

43-year-old Ricardo Chavez Martinez was jailed this week on an outstanding warrant from July charging him with the felony aggravated assault & strangulation of his 15-year-old son. Ricardo assumed his son was on drugs, which the child denied. Later, when the child was asleep, Ricardo entered his bedroom and pressed the child’s face into a pillow while gripping his neck, causing the child to lose consciousness and leaving him with injuries from his fingernails digging into his neck. The child’s mother and two younger brothers witnessed the entire assault.

Floyd Thomas charged with child abuse after daughter beaten from her “neck to her ankles” with belt

Jason Steen

A fifteen-year-old girl says her father, 57-year-old Floyd Thomas Jr., brutally beat her with a belt on September 7th. She told police she had taken a walk around her Antioch neighborhood with her sister, which she does every today, but on this day, her father felt the walk took too long. When she returned home, she says he took a belt and began to beat her with it, hitting her over and over again, and when she went to her bedroom, he followed her and continued to beat her as she screamed. She was able to escape and run to a nearby home, where police and first responders were called. Officers documented injuries “from her neck to her ankles,” including large welts to her upper back, visible welts, and redness covering her arms and legs. She also had a mark on her face. Police found the father at his home, and he claims he only spanked her on the bed, but she moved around; he explained she recently had to move to a new school due to behavioral issues. Thomas was charged with child abuse and transported to booking.

Majid Alkanani charged in the assault and abuse of two children

Jason Steen

Police say 54-year-old Majid Hussain Alkanani is charged with the violent assault of his teenage daughter, which sent her to the hospital, and the assault of her boyfriend after approaching him in a parking lot and then sending death threats to the teen. Details inside…

Genesis Gillenwaters charged with child abuse after concealing her son was raped by a family member

Jason Steen

Metro Nashville Police say that during an interview with 23-year-old Genesis Gillenwaters, she confessed to knowing that her six-year-old son had been raped by a family member for approximately three weeks before the child made a disclosure about it to authorities. She stated she was “handing it through the family” and was getting both the child and the offender counseling instead of getting the police involved. She also stated she was aware that the offender still had access to and had been around the child even after she knew about the rape. She is charged with child abuse for allowing the child to continue to be around the perpetrator after the rape, and with failure to report child abuse.

Maleigha Webb-Boyd charged with felony child abuse after striking child twenty times, chasing him

Jason Steen

Maleigha Webb-Boyd was jailed overnight on an outstanding warrant from last year, charging her with felony aggravated child abuse. Metro Nashville Police say a home surveillance system shows 35-year-old Maleigha Webb-Boyd telling a young child to come to her and pull his pants down, and when he doesn’t she replies “if I have to chase you down “I’m going to hit you wherever!” She then proceeds to strike the child approximately ten times before he runs away, at which time she follows him and strikes him ten more times before telling him he has “another one coming.”

Child Abuse: Crystal Maxim-Jones charged with punching daughter in face 8-10 times in fight about food

Jason Steen

35-year-old Crystal Maxim-Jones was jailed this week, charged with child abuse. Metro Nashville Police responded to Bishopsgate Road in Antioch, where witnesses reported Maxim-Jones and her 15-year-old daughter were having an argument over “food items”. She reportedly struck the child 8-10 times with a closed fist, impacting her head and face. Officers documented cuts on the child’s face and forehead.