Texas 6-year-old dies after stepmother brutally beats her with metal-studded belt as punishment for wetting bed
BRYAN, TEXAS: A woman has been charged for allegedly beating her stepdaughter with a metal-studded belt that resulted in her death. Jessica Bundren is accused of beating the six-year-old as punishment after she wet herself on the bed. The 40-year-old was taken into custody on Tuesday, October 27, and faces injury to a child charge after the victim died. As reported by the Daily Mail, the child whose name has not been revealed was found with injury marks on her face and legs, and welts with puncture marks on her torso. Police said they arrived at the home of the accused in the 700 block of Garden Acres in Bryan at around nine in the night after they received a report about an unresponsive child at the property.
Bundren reportedly first said to the investigators that the child fell down from the stairs earlier in the evening and was sleeping. She also stated that later when she went on to see her stepdaughter, she discovered that she was not breathing. Cops who responded to the scene then went on to check the victim and found her on her bedroom’s floor under a sheet. They also saw bruises on her face, head, upper torso, and legs. Her wounds seemed to be stemmed from beatings from a belt, resulting in welts and puncture marks, police noted.
Authorities again questioned Bundren, who eventually confessed to hitting the little girl for wetting her bed. She allegedly said that she ordered the victim to not sleep on the bed. Besides, the stepmother claimed that previously too she had beaten the girl with a belt, but she did not know why this time she stopped breathing. A search was also carried out at the property that led to the discovery of a belt with metal rivets, and police said they believe it was the same which was used to strike the girl. Currently, Bundren has been held on a $150,000 bond in the Brazos County Jail.
In another incident, a Georgia couple has been charged with murder and child cruelty after their alleged negligence resulted in the death of the five-year-old girl. Jerrail Maurice Mickens and Porscha Danielle Mickens were arrested on Tuesday, October 27, after their daughter, Kylie Mickens, died in June due to malnourishment. Reports stated that the couple took the child to Northeast Georgia Medical Center, but since her weight was very low and her condition also did not seem fine, she was shifted to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Northeast Georgia Medical Center’s authorities also informed police about the little girl.
After Kylie died on June 8, an investigation was launched by authorities including the Division of Family and Children Services. However, Jerrail, 31, and his 29-year-old wife were arrested recently after an autopsy result concluded earlier this month that Kylie died because of “dehydration and malnutrition due to medical neglect, with the manner of death being homicide,” Hall County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Derreck Booth said. Both the accused have been held at the Hall County Jail with no bond.