Background: The Shelby County Sheriff”s Office’s Jail East facility in Memphis, Tenn. (Shelby County Sheriff’s Office). Inset: Deandra Bynum (Shelby County Sheriff’s Office).
Deandra Bynum, 35, is currently held at the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office’s Jail East facility in Memphis, Tennessee, with her bond set at $10,000, according to records accessed by Law&Crime.
Bynum has been charged with child abuse and neglect, as reported by local Fox affiliate WHBQ.
Memphis Police Department officers were called to a residence on Thursday following accusations of abuse, a claim detailed in an affidavit reviewed by the media. Bynum allegedly used a switch—a flexible rod traditionally employed in corporal punishment—to strike a relative while the child was unclothed in a hot shower.
According to the affidavit, “The switch eventually broke at which point Suspect Bynum stopped hitting her.” However, authorities indicate that the violent episode did not conclude there.
“The switch eventually broke at which point Suspect Bynum stopped hitting her,” the affidavit stated. However, the violence did not end there, according to authorities.
Another woman who was there reportedly “shoved” the child down and “got on top of her with her foot” on the child’s neck. This woman then cut off the girl’s ponytail, police said.
The other woman — identified in court documents as Raven Porter — was not in police custody as of Friday. She reportedly is on probation after pleading guilty in a separate abuse case.
WHBQ noted that it had spoken with Bynum before — once when her relative’s leg was broken during a school fight and another time when a relative of hers was kicked out of school for allegedly making a threat.
Bynum is scheduled to appear in court on Monday.
