TUNICA COUNTY, MS (abc24.com) - A 21-month-old girl Tunica County girl was in the intensive care unit at Le Bonheur Children's Hospital, as her mother sat behind bars, accused of child abuse.
According to the Tunica County Sheriff's Office, paramedics were called to the Shady Lane Apartments late Sunday night. When they arrived, the 21-month old was unresponsive.
"It is sad, I feel real bad about it, it is real messed up," said Jessica Anderson, who lives across the courtyard from the young girl's apartment.
"It kind of hits hard because they can't really defend for themselves or speak for themselves, so someone has to speak for them," said Captain Cedric Davis of the Tunica County Sheriff's Criminal Investigation Division.
According to court records, the girl was hit repeatedly causing brain trauma.
"Just one of those moments where she just maybe snapped, and unfortunately she just snapped on a one-year-old," said Davis.
Police arrested Latoya Ankston, 25, and charged her with felony child abuse.
Ankston's arrest comes a week after the body of Maurice Brown Jr. was found in a dumpster days after he was reported missing. The 3-year-old's father, Maurice Brown Sr. now faces a murder charge.
"People get out of control, and get angry, and get frustrated, and do things that we all would say we would never ever do," said Nancy Williams, Executive Director of the Memphis Child Advocacy Center.
Williams says it falls on parents and other adults to spot trouble and report it.
"Even if we suspect something, we need to say something," she said.
Police are also questioning Ankston's live-in boyfriend, but as of Tuesday night, he had not been charged.
Ankston is set to make her first court appearance Wednesday morning.
