PA Woman Didn’t Mean to Use Her Baby to Beat Her Boyfriend

Chyrotia Graham, of Erie, PA, told police that she and her son’s father had been drinking and having a bad argument early Sunday morning when things suddenly turned violent. Graham, 27, said that she simply "snapped" and started grabbing whatever was nearby and throwing them at Deangelo Troop, 20, who is the father of her son.

Without knowing what she was doing, Graham picked up her 4-week-old son, Jarron Troop, held him by his legs, and swung him at his father. Officials had originally thought the woman had held the baby by the midsection, but her own account was that she swung the baby by his legs. The infant’s head hit Troop, who is also the father of one of Graham’s other four children.

Troop told reporters that he knows Graham would never mean to hurt their child. "People are trying to make a big deal about it, but she did not do it on purpose…It was just a mistake," he said. Police said that Troop punched Graham in the eye after she put the baby down. Police photos taken after her arrest showed her eye swollen shut. Authorities said that there it no indication that Troop had hit his son, but they are reviewing the case to see if any charges might be filed.

Authorities removed Graham’s other children from her home, granting temporary custody to their maternal grandparents. Graham was arrested and charged with aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, and simple assault. Jarron suffered a fractured skull and bleeding in the brain, and was flown by helicopter to Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh after the incident. Officials at the hospital have declined to release information about the baby.