An Ohio woman is now in custody, and her son, who was at the center of a weekend AMBER Alert, is safe, although authorities report he sustained significant injuries.
As reported by ABC 4, Tiarika Baymon, 32, from Brunswick, Ohio, was apprehended by Ross Township police in Pennsylvania on Sunday night, in relation to an AMBER Alert concerning her 7-year-old son.
Deputy Chief Brian Kohlhepp with Ross Township police said the victim had been tortured, and that his mother posted the abuse on Instagram.
“An Instagram video that she had uploaded, which actually showed the child, bound and being tortured by her,” Kohlhepp said.
Law enforcement located Baymon by tracking her vehicle to an isolated, wooded area on William Street in Ross Township. She was found asleep inside her 2014 Ford Escape with a firearm on her lap.
Kohlhepp stated, “Officers had to physically remove her from the vehicle. She was not injured during this process, and the gun dropped to the ground in the course of the intervention.”
Her son was found in the back, on folded-down seats that led into the vehicle’s trunk. Police said they found the child in distress and dehydrated.
First responders took him to the UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh with numerous traumatic injuries, and possible broken bones.
Police said the victim was later taken to the UPMC Mercy burn unit.
The boy reported during the interview that his mother struck him in the face with a glass bottle and also allegedly bound him with exercise straps and belts.
In Pennsylvania, Baymon faces charges including felony child endangerment, resisting arrest, obstruction of justice, and carrying a firearm without a license.
She’s also facing charges in Ohio. Brunswick police Lt. Christopher Spencer FOX 8 on Monday that she’s been charged with child endangering and that more charges could follow, “as the investigation progresses.”
Check back for updates.
[Feature Photo: WTAE SS/YouTube]
