ERIE, Pa. -- A northwestern Pennsylvania woman accused of using her baby to batter her child's father said she didn't realize what she was doing until it was too late.

Chyrotia Graham, 27, of Erie, told police she had been drinking when an argument with the child's father turned violent early Sunday morning, according to an affidavit filed to support Graham's arrest.

Graham said she "snapped" and began grabbing things and throwing them at Deangelo Troop, 20, not realizing she had picked up her 4-week-old son, Jarron Troop, telling police she held the child by his legs and swung him at his father. Police had said they believed the woman held the baby by the midsection when she hit the man.

Graham was being held in the Erie County Jail on Monday on $75,000 bond. She faces charges of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and simple assault.

Jarron, who was born Sept. 11, suffered a fractured skull and bleeding in the brain after the incident. The infant's head hit Deangelo, who had also fathered one of Graham's other four children.

Deangelo told the Erie Times-News that Graham never meant to hurt their child.

"People are trying to make a big deal about it, but she did not do it on purpose. ... It was just a mistake," he said.

Defense attorney Alison Scarpitti, who was assigned by the Erie County Public Defender's Office to represent Graham, said Monday she could not comment because she had not met with Graham.

Police said Troop punched Graham in the eye after she put the baby down, and police photos later showed her eye blackened and swollen shut.

Authorities said there was no indication that Troop had hit his son but that they were reviewing the case to see if any charges might be warranted.

"I don't anticipate any at this time," Erie police Capt. Frank Kwitowski said Monday.

Officials at Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh declined to release information about the baby early Tuesday. He was flown to the hospital by helicopter after the incident.

Authorities removed Graham's other children from the home. The Erie County Office of Children and Youth granted temporary custody to their maternal grandparents, Gloria Graham and Cornell Petty of Erie.

How could anyone do that?

I hope her son doesn't suffer permanent damage

That is horrible and sad, seen it on the news lastnight .. my goodness .. 'snapped' .. definitely. Hope the baby makes a speedy recovery ..

How can this have been a mistake? What did she think she was swinging? A cat? A midget little person?

Hope the little guy's OK.

how could anyone do that to their own child?....

unfortunately from what it sounds like he got %#$&@! up pretty bad if he survives he will most likely be retarded the rest of his life i knew a kid like that a long time ago. when he was a baby his mom beat him so bad he became retarded. if any thing i don't think that woman is ever going to see her kids again this is just so sad on so many levels

Poor kid.

Christ! How do you accidently grab your 4 week old son and swing him at someone? Being drunk is no g*d damn excuse!!! The father is just as much an idiot as she is. He said she didn't intend to hurt the baby? The both of them should be sterilized so they can't have any more kids.

Thats terrible. That poor little baby.

That's the most disgusting thing I've heard in a long time. This woman should never see her children again.

Rock solid evidence that some people should never be allowed to reproduce.
What was this woman thinking? Being an angry drunk is not an excuse for
inflicting that kind of harm on an infant. The baby will most likely be permanently
damaged because of what she did. I hope she goes to jail for a very long time
for this.

Hearing this kind of stuff makes me sick! NOBODY picks up their baby and starts swinging it to fight. You are all right being drunk is no excuse both parents should do time for this and I think that is to light. The correct punishment should be to get two very large men to pick them up by their ankles start swinging them around and let them hit their heads with each other how dose that feel you worthless humans.

awww poor child

I am stunned. It's true they should never see their children again, or reproduce again!

Shows how much the boyfriend cares. He can't understand why people are making such a big deal of this.... that poor baby.

How can she NOT realize she was holding the baby?...

phrick...

i gotta sound like the bad guy for a sec
when i first heard this story like yesterday, i told my friend
and naturally we had a good laugh, well at first it just sounds funny
but yes i agree though these people should have to bungee jump with extra long rope

This is so horrible that I really can't think of anything to say about it, but when the boyfriend said he didn't know why people were making a big deal about it, and it was an accident, SO WHAT IF IT WAS AN ACCIDENT!! It doesn't change the fact of what happened! I think that part is what makes me the maddest.

Situations like this make me realize how much birth control is drastically underused in some societies.

Okay, a mistake woudl be grabbing a chair and hitting your boyfriend with it... But grabbing a baby?

You would think the baby crying would have woken her up. Gah!

Some people shouldn't breed....

the poor child i feel so sorry for it

Its people like this that make me angry.

Some people are just to stupid to be allowed to breed/.

Wow, what is this world turning into? x_x

speechless.

So we should all start taking IQ tests right?

I'll take one. Only to see if mine's higher than the president's...

Oh wait... it is, pays to read books (Even if lately they've only been Japanese comics.)

The truth is the paper you would be writing on for the test has a higher IQ than the president.

"People are trying to make a big deal about it, but she did not do it on purpose. ... It was just a mistake," he said.


Uhhh... How does someone accidently pick up their child as a weapon?? Accident? I dont think so... Stupid?... most definately.

There's no way that you can accidentally grab a child and throw it WTF? That's crazy she must have problems there's no way you can do that without knowing it!

This world just gets crazier and crazier.