A Miami woman is accused of abusing her 3-year-old son after she was allegedly heard telling him she was going to "cut his tongue and rip his head off," police said.
Genesis Yaelin Pena, 30, was arrested Wednesday on a charge of child abuse causing no great bodily harm, records showed.
According to an arrest report, officers had responded to Pena's apartment on Northwest 7th Avenue in Little Havana after receiving an anonymous call of a child crying and screaming.
"The caller also stated that the person was hitting the child and telling him to shut up, and she was going to cut his tongue and rip his head off," the report said.
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An officer who arrived at the scene heard the child crying and knocked on the door multiple times but Pena wouldn't open it, the report said.
Pena said "there was no baby" and said it was a fake baby that had been crying as she continued refusing to open the door, police said.
Pena's mother arrived and convinced Pena to open the door, and an officer found the child inside with multiple bruises and redness on his face, the report said.
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"It took that woman approximately an hour to finally open the door for officers," Miami Police spokeswoman Kiara Delva said.
Delva said the boy had injuries all over his body.
"This is a very very sad case, unfortunately that 3-year-old baby boy is such a vulnerable baby, how could you do something like this to a child?" she said.
Pena was interviewed by investigators but the interview was ended "due to the defendant's mental status and being incoherent," the report said.
The Department of Children and Families responded and took custody of the child.
Pena was arrested and booked into jail. She appeared in court Thursday where she was granted a $5,000 bond and ordered to have no contact with her son.
Delva said police were thankful they received anonymous calls from someone in the building.
"God know what could have happened to that child had we not been contacted," she said.
