Grand jury gets smothering case
Hamilton County Sessions Court Judge Clarence Shattuck sent attempted murder and child abuse charges against a mother to the grand jury Tuesday.
Monica Hammers, 41, has been free on a $55,000 bond since May 6, according to jail records. Police arrested and charged the Smyrna, Tenn., woman after a witness at Erlanger hospital told security officers that Hammers tried to smother her 4-year-old son.
The boy had been brought to the hospital for court-mandated medical testing and was accompanied by his mother. The boy had a broken arm that was scheduled to be set, according to an arrest report.
The boy began to cry and a witness watched Hammers tell her son to shut up and place a pillow over his face for about five to six seconds, according to police.