A mother from Memphis has been arrested following an incident in which she reportedly assaulted her son with a screwdriver after collecting him from school.
Miriam Castillo, 44, faces serious charges of felony aggravated child abuse and misdemeanor domestic assault, as indicated by court records from Shelby County, Tennessee. Witnesses reported that her son was observed running and shouting, “she is trying to kill me” on Tuesday afternoon.
A witness informed authorities that the victim was “assaulted by his mother,” as stated in an affidavit of complaint examined by Law&Crime. The individual, whose age remains unspecified in the report, stated that his mother “was driving reckless[ly] after she picked him up from school.”
According to the affidavit, Castillo’s son reported to the police that his mother“attempted to put him out of the moving vehicle while on the way to pick up his sister.” At that moment, the boy reached out to his father, who “advised for him to take [Castillo’s] keys once the vehicle was stopped.”
In the attempt to do so, Castillo “proceeded to bit[e] him on his right hand an[d] left elbow.”
According to the affidavit, she “took an unknown screwdriver and stabbed him in the left leg breaking the skin.”
At that moment, the boy exited the vehicle and began to flee, prompting a witness to take notice and alert the authorities.
The affidavit indicated that the boy received treatment for minor injuries.
Authorities successfully found Castillo and “smelled a strong odor of alcohol coming from her person.”
She allegedly confessed to having consumed alcohol, yet was uncertain about the number of drinks she had consumed.
“Officers were unable to get a statement from suspect Miriam Castillo about the incident due to her being under the influence,” the affidavit noted.
Following the incident, authorities reported that both the victim and his sister were placed in their father’s care.
Castillo is currently in custody with a bond set at $40,000, as reported by the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office. Her court appearance is set for Friday.