A Garrett woman is facing charges for allegedly strangling a child she called “incorrigible.”
Stephanie Nicole Followell, 37, of Garrett, and also showing an address in Fort Wayne, was booked in the Kosciusko County Jail at 5:16 p.m. Sept. 8 and faces charges for strangulation, a Level 6 felony; domestic battery to a person less than 14 years of age by a person at least 18 years of age, a Level 6 felony; domestic battery with a child under 16 present, a Level 6 felony; and two Class A misdemeanor domestic battery charges.
According to the probable cause affidavit filed Monday in Kosciusko Superior Court I, on Sept. 8 North Webster police responded to a home in reference to a domestic battery that had occurred.
Upon arrival, officers spoke to Followell who told police that she had been punched and hit with a bottle by two children in the house.
“They seriously have been beating the s*** out of me,” she told police, according to the affidavit. Police observed marks on Followell’s face, neck and back, according to the report.
When police spoke with the children, according to the affidavit, one of them told police they were in a verbal argument with Followell and that Followell slapped him on the back, then pinned him down on the couch and choked him to the point he could not breathe. The other child told police that when she saw what was going on, she threw a water bottle at Followell to get her to let go. Followell then allegedly charged at the girl and dragged her by her hair around the kitchen, according to court papers.
Another adult present in the home corroborated the children’s stories and said Followell only stopped after she was told the police were being called.
Followell told police that the children were incorrigible and said they would not get their shoes on, they would not get in the car and they would “not do anything,”?according to the affidavit. In a jailhouse phone call Followell made on Sept. 8, she admitted to backhanding and being on top of the child, according to court papers.
Her bond was set at $6,000, and no-contact orders were issued.
