Douglasville Woman Sentenced To Prison For Child Abuse On Infant

DOUGLASVILLE, GA - A Douglasville woman has been sentenced to 100 years — 50 in prison and 50 on probation — after abusing her baby, authorities said.

Kayla Jordan Ray, 21, was secretly recorded on video the morning of Sept. 13, 2018, abusing her 7-month-old, Douglas County District Attorney’s Office spokesman Steven C. Knittel said in a news release. A family member who was suspicious of Ray made the recording, according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.

The video showed Ray throwing the baby into the crib after choking, smothering and punching the child, according to the release.

The child, who suffers from a respiratory condition, was seen in the video becoming motionless for a period of time after the beating. Later that morning, police and emergency medical services were sent to the home and found multiple bruises on the child’s knees, back, head and nose, the release said.

According to Knittel, authorities were advised by a doctor not to return the child to Ray.

The investigation revealed the child had two healing bone fractures that occurred at different times.

“What the video captured was just the latest, and thankfully last, abuse the child had to suffer at the hands of its own mother,” Deputy Chief Assistant District Attorney Samantha Newman said.

Ray entered a non-negotiated guilty plea to five counts of cruelty to children in the first degree Thursday.

“Ms. Ray abused her baby in such a vicious, cruel manner, that she deserves to spend the rest of her natural life in prison or under the state’s supervision,” District Attorney Ryan Leonard said.