MARINETTE (WLUK) — A woman who appears in a video apparently showing a mother pulling the hair of her two-year-son while live streaming has been convicted for her role in the incident, and will be sentenced in January.
Amara Burns, 26, pleaded guilty Monday to battery of a police officer for kicking an officer in the face while being arrested. Sentencing is Jan. 29. Three other counts, including being party to child abuse, were dismissed but can be considered at sentencing, court records show.
The child’s mother, Natasha Hunt, returns to court Jan. 22 for a status conference. No trial date has been set on two counts, including child abuse.
According to the criminal complaint, when Niagara police first asked the two, both denied posting any video or having knowledge of any abuse. The boy showed no signs of injury and told police he was not injured.
Police then reviewed the video. According to the criminal complaint:
“In the video, Natasha approached Amara and (the victim). Natasha grabbed (the victim) by the hair and began to pull violently, Natasha was pulling (the victim)’s head in multiple directions. Natasha was looking at the camera with an angry look on her face. (the victim) was saying “OW” repeatedly and began to cry. Amara put up both of her hands. Amara did not appear to assist in the pulling of the hair besides holding (the victim) onto her lap while Natasha committed the physical pain to (the victim). Amara did not make any attempt to stop Natasha. For a brief moment, Natasha stopped pulling (the victim)’s hair. Then she began pulling (the victim)’s hair again to the point that she pulled (the victim) off Amara’s lap and out of the picture. I could hear (the victim) saying “OW” and crying. You can see Natasha moving around as if she was still pulling (the victim)’s hair. Amara looked in the direction of where this incident was occurring and looked back at the camera smiling. She again made no attempt to stop Natasha from harming (the victim),” the complaint states.
The incident happened Aug. 24 at a home in Niagara.
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Editor’s note: This story has been updated to clarify that Amara Burns appeared in the video, but was not the child’s mother.