Mountain Home, AR. – The mother of the 4-year-old daughter who was beaten to the point of hospitalization by the mother’s boyfriend was recently arrested and is now facing charges for abusing her daughter. 25-year-old Ashlyn Shelton is now facing a felony count of permitting child abuse, and two charges of first-degree battery, which is a class Y felony and the most serious crime in Arkansas not punishable by the death penalty.
Last month, the boyfriend, 23-year-old Austin Helms, was arrested after he hospitalized the 4-year-old girl by beating her because she broke his phone. To read the original article on this story, click here.
According to the probable cause affidavit, the 4-year-old girl was taken to the emergency room after being beaten so badly that her face swelled up and she could not see. Once she woke up, she told her mother and the officials that Helms had punched her repeatedly in the face. The 4-year-old was released to the custody of the Department of Human Services and taken to her Grandma’s house to be interviewed by an investigator with the Arkansas State Police Crimes Against Children Division. She stated that Helms had punched her for breaking his phone and some other bruises on the girl’s body, which she explained was because she accidentally knocked down the curtains and was spanked.
After an examination, officials found scabs and bruising on the girl’s scalp from chunks of hair being pulled out. The aunt also searched the girl’s home and found two articles that were wedged between the wall and the mattress covered in blood. One was the child’s shirt and the other was a metal wire fly swatter that matched the marking on the child’s stomach.
Ashlyn Shelton is being held in the Baxter County Detention Center with a bond of $150,000.
