A mother in Alabama has been arrested after allegedly doing the unthinkable — trying to drown her 10-year-old son.
Ashley Elizabeth Jones, 34, is facing aggravated child abuse charges — thankfully not murder — after allegedly attacking her son. According to an affidavit from Colbert County Circuit Court obtained by People over the weekend, the suspect’s 10-year-old son had told her he wanted to go live with his dad instead. This enraged his mother, who was said to have struck and beat him before throwing bleach on him. So awful… but it only gets more harrowing from there, sadly.
The unnamed little boy then said he was going to go have a bath to wash the bleach off, according to the reports, but his mom followed him into the bathroom. As he was washing off, she “jumped into the tub with him, and proceeded to grab his face, shoving it under water” for at least 45 seconds. According to court docs, the boy told investigators he “played dead” when his mom jumped on him — which could be the only reason he made it out alive!
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Quick thinking on the boy’s part, but it’s heartbreaking he was in such a situation to begin with. Ugh.
After this, Jones allegedly locked her son in a closet for three hours. It’s not confirmed when exactly the drowning attempt happened, but according to law officials the abuse was not a one-time thing. The affidavit states the boy told police all the “scrapes” and “bruises” on his body — many, apparently — were from the hands of his mother. The mom was officially arrested last Tuesday, but there were several alleged cases of abuse against the child dating all the way back to April 15.
He called his dad that Sunday, April 21 to come pick him up. The boy reportedly seemed “distressed”, and when asked about what happened, he told his father everything. His father then called the police, who promptly arrested Jones.
According to the outlet, the accused mom posted a $50,000 bond and is said to be out of jail at this time. Her first court date has been scheduled for May 20.
So, so awful. We hope this poor little boy never has to go through something like this again — and gets to grow up feeling safe, no matter what that means for his mom.
[Image via Colbert County Jail]