GRIFFIN, Ga. — The mother accused of attempting to drown her own infant in a bathtub and posting videos of it on Facebook teared up during her first appearance in Spalding County Court today, visibly shaking as felony charges were read.
"Do you understand your rights?" asked Spalding County Magistrate Court Judge Brennan MacDowell.
"Yes sir," Laquanda Mosley responded.
Mosley, 27, was denied bond. She is accused of repeatedly holding her 5-month-old daughter's head underwater at the family's apartment in Griffin, threatening to kill her baby -- all the while posting videos of the incident on Facebook.
"Because of the nature of this crime, I am no-bonding you, at this time," Judge MacDowell said.
Police said Mosley sent the videos to the child's father, who lives out of state, demanding he pay child support.
Fayetteville attorney Paul Liston has been hired by the family to represent Mosley. He said he has not seen the Facebook videos, yet, and was headed to the Spalding County Jail to hear the story first-hand from Mosley.
"She's going to tell me the truth, and I'll represent her based on what she tells me," Liston said.
Mosley's infant daughter and her two other children, ages 5 and 6, are now in state care. Her next hearing is tentatively scheduled for Oct. 30, 2018.
The Facebook videos are so horrific that 11Alive is choosing not to show them.
The two clips, posted to Facebook Tuesday night, show the infant in a plastic baby bathtub. In one 6-second clip, Mosley can be seen lifting her baby by the legs, dunking the infant’s face under water and leaving it there for several seconds. A second clip shows Mosley place her hands on the child’s upper chest while water flows up to meet most of the baby’s face.
A disturbing screenshot of a private message, allegedly between Mosley and the child’s father, that was uploaded alongside the videos shows the 27-year-old threatened to kill the infant on Facebook Live if he didn’t send her child support money.
"This baby about to die on god," one threat read.
"Send me my money now or she bouta die on (Facebook) live," another message read.
On Wednesday, 11Alive’s Kaitlyn Ross spoke to Griffin Police, who investigated the case.
“I think we can all agree on that, no matter what line of work you’re in, that is a tough video to watch,” said Sgt. Chris Wilson with the department.
Wilson said they have contacted Facebook to get the videos - and copies of them - removed.
“We might be able to shut one down, but shutting down all of them” would be difficult, Wilson said.
Meanwhile, police are begging people not to share or repost any version of them, even if their intentions are good. In fact, the videos caused so much outrage and concern online, the City of Atlanta Police Department had to respond.
"The Department has been made aware of a disturbing video circulating on Facebook of a mother abusing her infant child. While this crime did not occur in the City of Atlanta, please know the mother was taken into custody in a nearby jurisdiction and the child is safe," the department wrote. "Please do not circulate the video further. We thank everyone for their concern and for reporting this crime to the proper authorities."
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