Community Looks For Mother Filmed Dragging Daughter By Her Hair
A disturbing incident involving a mother and daughter in Georgia was caught on tape by concerned neighbors, and now the community is rallying to come to a child’s defense. As a nine-year-old girl was playing with her friends, her mother suddenly emerged, angry with her, and subjected her to shocking abuse.
The mother was filmed dragging her daughter by her hair and smacking her repeatedly.
In the unsettling footage that was uploaded to Facebook by Gwen-Harris Mackenzie, a neighbor of the mother and daughter, the mother is seen tightly gripping her daughter’s hair as she sits in the grass and screams. “Get up!” the mother is heard hollering at the little girl, as she wrenches her to her feet and shouts several expletive words at her.
In one clip, the woman’s daughter’s limp body is seen being dragged through the grass by her hair as the mother pulls her away. The girl continued to cry in agony and distress.
According to Gwen-Harris, the footage was originally captured by her niece. “Don’t know if any neighbors had witnessed this part but some did see her chasing her,” she wrote in her Facebook post. While she was at work during the time of the incident, Gwen-Harris and several others alerted police of the mother’s actions.
According to the neighbor, this was not the first time the mother’s abuse was witnessed, however, it was the first time it was captured on video.
“I don’t know her or her name, her kids just play outside with mine and they have said this isn’t the worst she has done that they have seen, they just finally caught it on camera,” Gwen-Harris wrote. “Prayers for those babies.”
After concerned neighbors shared the footage with other members of the community, police were thankfully able to identify and arrest the mother.
The woman was identified as 27-year-old Samarria White. According to another neighbor, a group of neighborhood children had been playing at White’s pool when the mother suddenly became angry and sent the children home, per WGXA. The neighbor then said she spotted White chasing her daughter down the road before dragging the girl by her hair.
Deputies from Bibb’s County Sheriff’s Office were able to identify White after seeing the video. “In the shocking video, which was also posted to social media, the woman is seen striking the child in the face several times,” the Sheriff’s Office shared via Facebook.
When they arrived at the mother’s doorstep she allegedly denied abusing her daughter. Although after officers informed her that the incident was videoed, she confessed and was taken into custody.
She is currently being held on a $20,000 bond and is being charged with cruelty in the first degree.
White’s daughter was transported to a local hospital by authorities, where she was treated for “bruising and redness” on her chest. DCFS has been notified of the incident.
It is unknown who is watching over White’s daughter and two other children at this time.
People on the Internet were horrified and appalled by the mother’s treatment of her daughter.
“I don’t care what that child did beforehand, there’s no excuse for dragging them by their hair,” one person shared.
“Justice for this child,” one Facebook user commented. “Praying for the children, praying the momma gets the help she needs. Very sad situation,” another user wrote.
Other users praised the woman’s neighbors for spreading awareness about the abuse and potentially saving her children’s lives.
Their actions are a reminder that if you see something, say something. This story could have had a very different ending had the community remained silent.
If you suspect that a child you know is being abused, please call the NATIONAL CHILD ABUSE HOTLINE: 1-800-4-A-CHILD (1-800-422-4453) where Crisis Counselors are available 24/7.
Megan Quinn is a writer at YourTango who covers entertainment and news, self, love, and relationships.
