An Augusta mother remained in jail Thursday on allegations that she whipped her teen daughter with a belt on Thanksgiving Day.
Deidra Shipes, 39, of Olive Road, Augusta, is being held without bond on a charge of cruelty to children in the second degree, a felony.
Authorities say Shipes struck her 14-year-old daughter in the face and body with a belt around noon on Thanksgiving Day, causing welts to the child’s left arm, left leg and right ear. She was arrested that same day.
Authorities say Shipes told her daughter to take the cat outside “because the cat had dark spirits.” When the daughter refused, the mother grabbed a belt and started hitting her with it.
The daughter ran outside to get away and looped around the home. As her mother was outside, the victim ran back in the home, locked the door and called 911, authorities said.
