FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WNCN) – The mother of a child who received a severe head injury at the hands of his caregiver has been arrested in connection with the abuse, Cumberland County Sheriff Ennis Wright said.
Shawntae Mckethan was arrested Monday and charged with child abuse inflicting serious injury and accessory after the fact, officials said.
Mckethan’s arrest comes after Simon Truitt II was taken into custody last week for abusing the child for urinating the floor, Wright said.
Wright said Mckethan and Truitt spoke over the phone and communicated through Facebook on Aug. 12. The two spoke about the boy wetting himself.
Truitt sent Mckethan a video of the child having a seizure on a bathroom floor.
Mckethan told Truitt to wait until she got home to help the child.
Mckethan received the video at 4:35 p.m. and she didn’t return home until 7 p.m., Wright said.
Mckethan was booked into the Cumberland County Detention Center where she received a $500,000 secured bond.
Her first appearance before a judge will be Tuesday at 2:30 p.m.
Truitt used a belt and beat the child, who is 3-feet tall and weighs 60 pounds.
The child was flown to UNC-Chapel Hill for medical treatment due to ongoing seizures.
The victim suffered a severe head injury, hematoma to the forehead, bruising and swelling to the inside and outside of the left ear, bruising to the left shoulder and shoulder blade, a rib fracture, and pattern shaped marks to the abdomen, back and legs.
Wright said Truitt’s left hand was bruised and swollen following the assault.
Truitt is being held under a $1 million bond.
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