A Florida mother has been charged with child abuse after she allegedly struck her 6-year-old son when he dropped a package of bottled water that authorities said was too heavy for him.
Kiah Lowery, 36, was arrested following the May 31 incident at an apartment complex on Alta Street in St. Augustine, according to the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office.
The encounter was captured by a Ring doorbell camera as Lowery was reportedly making grocery deliveries for Instacart. The footage allegedly showed her scolding the boy after he struggled to carry a basket containing groceries.
“Then you carry this water,” Lowery told the boy. “I’ll carry the basket. You carry this f—ing water. You can’t hold it … I’m gonna hurt you.”
Lowery then handed the child a 24-pack of bottled water. The boy immediately appeared to struggle with the package and said he “can’t hold it” before dropping it, according to the footage described by authorities.
The child ran away, but Lowery allegedly chased him and struck him in the face. The video showed the boy screaming, crying and holding his face after he was hit, authorities said.
Lowery then continued to berate the child.
“You’re the worst,” Lowery said, per the video. “The f—ing worst. How dare you. You are a f—ing piece of s—.”
She later instructed him again to “carry something,” according to the footage.
Investigators identified Lowery as the woman shown in the video and took her into custody. During an interview with deputies, she said she had been completing three deliveries at the apartment complex and claimed that her son was “being defiant upon arrival,” according to an arrest affidavit.
Deputies wrote that Lowery “called her behavior an ‘over-stimulated moment’ and apologized for her actions.”
The affidavit stated that the boy weighed approximately 49 pounds, while the water package weighed about 26 pounds. Investigators said the child was slapped and shouted at over an “action that he was incapable of performing.”
Lowery was booked into the St. Johns County Jail on a child abuse charge. She later posted a $5,000 bond and was released.
Under the conditions of her release, Lowery is prohibited from having contact with her son while the case remains pending.
Her next court appearance is scheduled for July 7. The allegations have not yet been proven in court.