A 29-year-old woman was arrested Friday evening after witnesses observed her punch a 7-year-old child in the face in a South Knoxville parking lot and called police.
Loren Whaley, 29, is charged with felony child abuse following the incident at Kroger on Chapman Highway near West Young High Pike around 7 p.m.
According to an arrest warrant, Knoxville police responded to reports of a woman hitting a child in the face. Officers met with a witness who stated he saw Whaley drag the child by his arm into a white car in the parking lot, then strike the child twice in the face with a closed fist. A second witness corroborated the account.
Police contacted the child, who initially said he had a nosebleed. When asked if he had been hit, he was hesitant to answer. The child said he didn’t feel it “right here” and pointed to the right side of his face, according to the warrant.
Officers noted the child’s face was red with dried blood on his shorts and leg. The child eventually told officers that Whaley pulled him by his arm to the car and hit him in the face.
Officers found Whaley sitting in the driver’s seat with the door open, washing her hands with a water bottle. When asked what happened, she replied that she needed to get her phone several times. Officers noted in the warrant that Whaley didn’t provide an explanation of the incident.
The child was released to his mother. The warrant did not specify Whaley’s relationship to the child.
Whaley was booked into Knox County Jail on Saturday afternoon and is due in court Monday morning.
