‘I’ll eliminate her my damn self’: Florida mother allegedly whipped 3-year-old daughter with hanger on FaceTime video, claimed her ex created the footage with AI
A Florida mother beat her toddler with a hanger while on FaceTime with the girl’s father — showcasing the violence on the screen — and even threatened to kill the child, police in the Sunshine State allege.
Aaliyah Shantrelle Herring, 25, stands accused of one count each of child abuse with no harm and child neglect with no great bodily harm, according to Miami-Dade County court records.
The 3-year-old’s father began using the screen recording feature on his cellphone once the abuse started in order to document the crimes, according to the Miami Gardens Police Department.
Police became aware of the harrowing incident earlier this month — after the father shared the video with law enforcement.
On Monday, Herring was arrested. During a subsequent interview with investigators, she allegedly admitted to disciplining her child for “throwing a remote at her,” according to an arrest report obtained by Miami-based ABC affiliate WPLG.
Later, the defendant allegedly shifted her narrative, telling police the girl’s father created the video with artificial intelligence — and insisting she was not actually the woman in the video.
“What you see in the video is a mother repeatedly beating a young child,” Miami Gardens Police Sgt. Emmanuel Jeanty told the TV station last week. “It was very, very hard for us to watch.”
The footage is disturbing. The child appears face down — seemingly trying to seek protection in a piece of furniture. She audibly cries.
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In the footage, the mother allegedly can be seen whipping the child with what appears to be a hanger — and making at least two comments heavily suggesting she might try to kill the baby girl.
“Since you don’t want to handle your own kid,” a woman can be heard saying at one point in the video. “Guess what? I’ll eliminate her my damn self, how about that?”
Then the incensed woman in the video addresses the little girl and her father again: “Still don’t want to shut up? That’s fine, y’all going to watch me kill your kid, how about that?”
Police say Herring was temporarily detained on a mental health hold before her arrest under the terms of Florida’s Baker Act.
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The child’s father spoke with Miami-based NBC affiliate WTVJ. He shared the footage he recorded and relayed the explanation Herring allegedly gave him for the abuse as it happened.
“[She was] blowing up my phone telling me to come pick up [the child],” he told the TV station. “Then, she’s sending me pictures on Messenger. Saying that she’s had it. Saying that I’m making excuses. I’m not picking up [the child]. I’m not caring for her. I’m not — I’m not acting like the father that I was supposed to be.”
The couple is no longer together and he was previously granted supervised access to the girl in a family law case over child custody.
That custody arrangement is likely to be upturned now.
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Herring was granted pretrial release by 11th Circuit Court Judge Mindy Glazer on Tuesday and released on Wednesday. As a condition of her bail, the defendant is prohibited from any contact with her child.
She pleaded not guilty during an initial hearing this week. The defendant was also appointed a public defender. She is next slated to appear in court for her arraignment on Sept. 18.
The child is now in stable condition and currently being cared for by Herring’s stepmother, according to authorities.
Law&Crime reached out to the Miami Gardens Police Department for additional details on this story, but no response was immediately forthcoming at the time of publication.