Brionka Benjamin was arrested last week on suspicion of throwing her 6-month-old son into a garbage can following an altercation at Walmart.
Following her arrest, the 38-year-old Louisiana woman was charged with a misdemeanor simple battery charge and a felony count of cruelty to juveniles.
Officers were summoned to a “fight in progress” inside the Walmart in Eunice on Saturday, June 22, at 3:30 p.m., according to a statement. Though the incident had ended by the time authorities arrived, an examination of the store’s video surveillance purportedly saw Benjamin tossing her son into the waste bin before striking another individual.
Eunice Police Chief Kyle LeBouef told People, “It was a verbal altercation to begin with and it turned into a physical altercation. We viewed the video surveillance and that is when we were able to determine what happened.”
He indicated that Benjamin was holding her son throughout the altercation and then “suddenly turned and tossed the baby into the trashcan and started fighting with them.”
The police chief added that the suspect reportedly threw her son in the trash “so she could free both of her hands so she could fight.”
“You don’t know what is in there. There could be broken glass,” LeBouef lamented. He added however that the baby was not injured.
He expressed that the cause of the fight is still unknown, saying, “We got different stories. One said they didn’t like the way the other one looked at her and it just went from there.”
KFLY reported that because of her role in the altercation, Benjamin’s niece, Makatelynn Benjamin, 20, was also taken into custody and charged with simple violence.
People reported on Thursday that it’s unclear whether Benjamin has entered pleas or hired an attorney.
