GREELEY, Colo. -- A Weld County mom whose physical and verbal abuse and threats to kill her two-year old son went viral on Facebook, has been sentenced to five years of supervised probation and 60 days of straight jail time.
Additionally, Weld County Court Judge Dana Nichols handed Katrina Kennedy-Flores an 18-month suspended jail sentence and told her she must attend anger management classes and pay court costs.
The Facebook video, which was posted last May, shows Kennedy-Flores physically assaulting her son and screaming that she was going to kill him because he lost her cell phone charger.
"It was horrifying," said Weld County DA Michael Rourke. "It struck me as verbal torture of that child. That's obviously not taking into account the physical aspect, the physical abuse that that child suffered."
Kennedy-Flores broke down in court as she talked about the video and its impact on her family.
"I will be the first to say that my actions have affected my family," she said. "They've been drug through the media and social media. It has been a nightmare."
Through tears, the mom asked for leniency.
"My family needs me," she said.
But the Judge said what Kennedy-Flores did deserved punishment.
She noted that the boy had bruises on both arms, both legs and on his forehead.
"I'm concerned that this is not just an isolated incident," Nichols said, "and that there has been substantial lack of parenting going on."
An arrest affidavit described the 16-minute video as using reprehensible language, including the following:
- You're going to die
- I'm going to kill you
- You're a f------ piece of s---
- Where's my f------ [phone] charger, find my charger
The boy, who was heard screaming in terror on the video, has been re-homed in protective custody.
His mom will have limited, supervised contact with him while serving probation.
After successful completion of classes and probation, she'll likely have more frequent contact.
The Judge gave Kennedy-Flores a week to get her affairs in order and told her she must report to the Weld County Jail by 10 a.m. on January 10.
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