Police have arrested Demitria Latrion Powell, a 28 year old resident of Flint, MI along with 42 year old Uteas Michelle Taylor, and a 39 year old man named Stefon Tirrell Felton. The trio have been arrested after administering a beating to Powell’s 11 year old son and then posting the video clip to Facebook.
On the six minute video, Powell and Taylor take turns hitting the boy, slapping him repeatedly in the face and hitting him with a belt more than 50 times. Felton is not seen in the video as he is the person recording it, but he is heard commenting on a couple of occasions throughout. It is evident from the video that another child was present during the events.
According to those who have seen the video, Powell is reported to have said that the beating is being administered because of her son’s ‘thug-like’ behavior and because he allegedly put false information about himself on his own Facebook page. Apparently she is also reported to have said, ‘Call CPS if you want to. Watch this ass whipping this gangster is going to get.’
The video went viral before being removed from the boy’s Facebook page. Multiple people who saw it called 911 to report it to authorities, or reposted it to the Facebook page of the Flint Police Department. A day later police and the Department of Human Services began an investigation.
Arrest warrants were issued, and police arrived with Child Protective Services to arrest Powell and Taylor. The two children were taken into protective custody. Felton was arrested the following day. Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said in a statement, “The adults in this case clearly went beyond what is a reasonable level of ‘parental discipline’. What the video in this case reveals is a group of adults whose actions were a criminal assault against a child and that behavior cannot be condoned nor allowed under the law.”
The three adults involved have been charged with 3rd degree child abuse, conspiracy to commit child abuse in the 3rd degree, and 3rd degree child abuse committed in the presence of another child. Under Michigan law crimes involving the abuse of child abuse are generally felonies punishable by imprisonment.