Baby Abandoner Repeatedly Punched Child’s Mom in Head: Cops

JOLIET, IL — A Joliet man jailed in March for drunkenly leaving a baby alone in the freezing cold while he went inside to pass out on a couch with his girlfriend was arrested again — this time for repeatedly punching the child’s mother in the head, police said.

Kenyatta Franklin, 36, was charged with felony domestic battery in connection with his alleged Monday night assault on his 42-year-old girlfriend, Melissa Vance, at their East Washington Street home.

Franklin put Vance in a corner and punched her in the head five or six times, police said. Vance reportedly tried to call the cops but Franklin grabbed her phone and hurled it down the hall.

Vance was eventually able to call the law, police said, but Franklin had fled their home by the time officers arrived. A couple hours later, an anonymous call reportedly came in that Franklin had returned. Officers went back to the apartment, Vance gave them permission to enter, they found Franklin inside and the placed him under arrest.

There was no mention in police reports on the alleged incident of a child being present in the apartment.

In March, Vance was arrested along with Franklin after a neighbor found her 11-month-old daughter alone outside in a stroller while she and Franklin were passed out together on a couch, police said.

The temperature at the time was 34.9 degrees, according to police, but windchill made it feel like it was below freezing. When the little girl was found, she was reportedly wearing an unzipped jacket and no gloves or hat. There was a blanket in the stroller, but it wasn’t covering her, police said.

Vance was released from jail just two days later when prosecutors dropped the case against her. Franklin spent six days in jail following his March arrest before Vance posted $1,000 bail for his release.

Franklin was sent back to jail when he registered an over-the-top .4 percent blood-alcohol content on a court-ordered breath test. Franklin got out two days later but Judge Matthew Bertani made it a condition of his bond that he cannot consume alcohol and must submit to breath testing at each of his court appearances.

Kenyatta Franklin | image via Will County Sheriff's Department