Add The New York Post on Google A Florida mom watched TikTok videos and porn for hours while her infant died – after she violently threw him into a playpen during a fit of rage, according to authorities.
Tatiana Norman was arrested after cops found her 6-month-old son, Jeremiah Peters, unresponsive inside her Lakeland home at around 11:40 p.m. on June 29 – after he had repeatedly been slammed on the ground earlier that day, Police Chief Sammy Taylor Jr. said during a press conference Friday.
Norman initially offered cops conflicting explanations about her son, who died less than an hour after he was transported to a local hospital, Taylor said.
There was no clear evidence of injuries on Jeremiah, according to cops, except for a left thigh mark – which, Norman first told police, was from her putting him into bath water that was too hot, the chief said.
“When officers spoke to Ms. Norman at the scene, she relayed that she placed Jeremiah in bed while she went to prepare a bottle,” Taylor said.
“When she returned, she found Jeremiah had fallen off the bed onto the tile floor.”
But her story changed when investigators interviewed her a second time. Then, she claimed that either she or her one-year-old child may have accidentally rolled onto Jeremiah while the three of them were sleeping in bed, according to Taylor.
An autopsy told a different story. The mark found on the infant’s thigh was from “a more significant thermal event,” not bathwater – and he’d also sustained other injuries that were more “severe” than falling once off the 22-inch-tall bed, police said.
The disgraced mom allegedly came clean — after being confronted with the autopsy findings — and admitted that the baby fell three times that day, including once when she threw him, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by WFLA News.
“Ms. Norman said she accidentally dropped her child onto the floor while reaching for a remote control and that the child struck his head at around 9 o’clock that morning,” Taylor said.
“Rather than seeking medical attention, she researched the injury symptoms on her phone and decided to monitor him at home.”
A little while later, Jeremiah fell face-first onto the floor after the one-year-old climbed into his rocking bassinet, causing it to tip over, Norman told cops, according to the affidavit.
Then, around 1 p.m., the fed-up mom “intentionally ‘tossed’ or ‘threw’ Jeremiah into a playpen from a standing position” from several feet away, court papers said.
“I think that’s probably when the significant injury occurred,” Taylor said about the last incident, adding that the baby hit his back and head on the playpen’s unpadded floor.
Instead, the mom frantically Googled a series of questions including, “Baby feels cold,” “Baby has concussion,” “Baby has concussion is it emergency,” according to cops.
She then busied herself by watching TikTok videos until around 4:20 p.m.
As Jeremiah continued to worsen, Norman also logged onto pornographic websites over 30 times.
“I think the child was probably deceased hours before she called us,” Taylor said Friday.
“I think she was trying to work through her mind, ‘how do I minimize this?’ is my assumption,” he added.
Norman allegedly blamed her lying on a myriad of mental health issues, including depression, suicidal thoughts and a history of PTSD and borderline personality disorder, according to the affidavit.
“She stated she was overstimulated, overwhelmed, and not receiving help at home, which led her to commit acts of rage and frustration against Jeremiah,” court papers said.
Norman was charged with aggravated child sentence and could face up to 30 years in prison, though the charges could still be upgraded, Taylor said. It wasn’t immediately clear if she has been assigned an attorney.
The Lakeland Police Department did not immediately respond to inquiries.
