Florida mom is arrested after police say she admitted biting her 4-year-old son’s ear inside a Hialeah market: ‘He wanted a toy’
Surveillance cameras inside a small Hialeah market allegedly recorded a mother turning on both of her young sons during a single visit. Madelien Inurrieta-Martinez, 43, is facing two felony child abuse charges after police say she bit her 4-year-old son on the ear inside Fatty’s Market on Palm Avenue, according to Law & Crime.
According to an arrest affidavit, the footage shows Inurrieta-Martinez sitting on several boxes of beverages before the situation escalated. She allegedly grabbed her 7-year-old son by his ears and forcefully pulled them, then grabbed the older boy by his hair and forcefully pulled it. Once she finished with the 7-year-old, police say she turned her attention toward her younger son.
However, police received the video only after the store owner checked his cameras the next day and reported it, according to Hialeah police Lt. Eddie Rodriguez. Inurrieta-Martinez later told police that she was upset during the encounter, according to the affidavit. She allegedly said she was angry because the 4-year-old wanted a toy and she did not have any money to buy it. The document states that she admitted grabbing the child and biting him on one of his ears.
She reportedly told police she was angry that he wanted a toy
The violence allegedly continued after she left the store, as police say Inurrieta-Martinez began striking both of her sons in the face simultaneously outside. Rodriguez called it one of the most vicious videos he had seen and said the younger boy’s screams were heartbreaking to hear. “You could tell the pain that he was going through,” said Lt. Rodriguez.
Police later located Inurrieta-Martinez about five blocks from the market and took her into custody. Her bond was set at $5,000, and a judge ordered no contact with her sons while the case moves forward. Court records indicate that an immigration hold has been placed on the Cuban national, who has pleaded not guilty.
The no-contact order is set to remain in place until Inurrieta-Martinez’s criminal case is resolved. At the same time, state child welfare officials are expected to decide where the two brothers will live.
Florida law actually pushes to keep brothers like these two together
The Florida Department of Children and Families has taken custody of both boys. Because the children have different fathers and one father is currently outside the country, authorities said the brothers could be separated. Hialeah police said officers did not ask about Inurrieta-Martinez’s immigration status and have no involvement in the hold.
Florida law strongly discourages splitting up siblings. Under the state’s sibling placement statute, the department or its lead agency must make reasonable efforts to keep removed siblings in the same foster, kinship, adoptive, or guardianship home. The Legislature’s findings in that law also tie keeping siblings together to a significantly higher rate of family reunification.
The criminal case carries its own stakes. Florida’s child abuse statute covers any intentional act that could reasonably be expected to injure a child, and abuse that does not cause great bodily harm is a third-degree felony. However, the law treats aggravated child abuse, which involves great bodily harm, torture, or malicious punishment, as a first-degree felony.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
Follow The Mary Sue:
