An Arkansas woman faces a felony charge of second-degree battery after a video was taken of her smacking her toddler son to the ground.
As Daily Mail reports, Alazai Gardner, 21, can be seen in a cell-phone-recorded video angrily slapping her son to the floor. After the toddler hit the floor, he began to cry hysterically.
The woman who recorded the video asked Fox13 to remain anonymous, but said she decided to do so after seeing Gardner slap the child “multiple times.”
Afterward, the witness rushed to the police station with the footage.
The footage of the incident quickly spread on social media following the incident and contributed to helping police solve the case.
Officers arrested Gardner late on Saturday and booked her to the Crittenden County Detention Center.
The West Memphis Police Department “thanked those in the community that provided information that helped to quickly resolve this case” in a Facebook post.
Under the department’s post, a user thanked a woman named Gabrielle Harris for posting the video.
Harris responded to the comment hoping to inspire others to do the same.
She said:
Darrick Bowles thank you so much!! I just hope people start doing the same & protecting our babies!
On her own page, Harris made a post confirming she was not the one who recorded the video, but her friend who did had sent it to her.
In part, Harris wrote:
?let me quickly & ONE TIME address this issue for people with the negative comments. I WAS NOT THERE! It was sent to me by a friend, she said it happened multiple times which Is why they started recording. Yes, the person who recorded it & her did get into it so she snatched her son & left.
Now why did I post it u ask?? BECAUSE NOTHING GETS DONE AROUND HERE UNLESS ITS PUBLICIZED… Yes I sent it to the police & anytime I got a tip on where she was I let the police know as well. Ultimately Facebook help catch her. The police got tips outside of which I’s why she was found.
Do I feel bad .. yes!! FOR THE BABY!! if someone slaps an innocent baby down to the (ground) with the force that she did IN PUBLIC & knowingly being recorded ain’t no telling what she does at home. If you all want to walk around and allow children to get beat thats on ya’ll but I WONT! The MOTHER & FUTURE TEACHER in me CAN’T STOMACH IT!
With all this being said my goal was her to be caught and she was so I will be making sure WMPD has everything they need & deleting the video!!
As Fox13 reports residents in Gardner’s West Memphis neighborhood were also in shock.
Resident Kelsey Nix said:
“It’s mind-blowing. I don’t know how somebody could smack a child like that. I’m glad she got in trouble and got caught…I’m not even sure the kid needs to be around the family. Obviously, they’ve let it happen, let that go on and haven’t done anything until now.”
Another resident was shook by the thought of how many times Gardner had hurt the toddler before. It is unclear when Gardner will make her first court appearance.