A New Whiteland mother was arrested after her daughter, who is younger than 14, told police that she was picked up by her neck and slammed to the ground during an unsupervised visit.
Whitney D. Mull, 28, was arrested and charged with domestic battery resulting in bodily injury on a person less than 14 years old, which is a level 5 felony. If convicted, Mull faces up to six years in prison.
The child had to wear a neck brace 24 hours a day, including while bathing and sleeping, for three months due to the injury, which was treated at Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health, according to court documents.
A doctor diagnosed the girl with a ligament injury that required the brace to avoid surgery, court documents said. The neurosurgeon told police that the injury is typical with moderate- to high-impact athletics or car accidents and that substantial force would be needed to cause the injury, according to court documents.
Greenwood police investigated the report, and the charge was filed by Johnson County Prosecutor Joe Villanueva.
Mull is the child’s biological mother, but does not have currently custody of the child, according to the charges. The girl was on an unsupervised visit with Mull at a Greenwood apartment in May when she was injured, police said.
After the weekend visit, the child told her caregiver that her mother picked her up by the neck and slammed her head to the ground, according to court documents. The girl told a Department of Child Services worker that she was washing her hands in the bathroom when Mull came in because she thought the girl was playing, court documents said. That is when her mother slammed her head, she told the caseworker.
The child complained of neck pain in the days following the incident and was unable to raise her arms. She was taken to the hospital.
Mull told police that the girl and another child were playing in the bathroom, that the victim has a medical condition that keeps her from sitting still, that she grabbed the girl by the jaw to get her to look at her and listen, and that she hit the child’s bottom for hitting another child, according to court documents.
She denied grabbing the child by the neck and said the victim can be coaxed into saying that Mull hurt her, court documents said.
Mull, of 212 Bel Aire Drive, was arrested on Monday and taken to the Johnson County jail, where she is held on $1,250 bond.
