Westmoreland, Jamaica – The mother at the centre of a viral video on social media where she tossed her young baby onto the roadway during a fight with another woman, is pleading to the nation for forgiveness.

The mother said her daughter is not hurt and she handed over the 18-month-old child to the Child Protection and Family Service Agency (CPSFA) on Friday.

Kimiya ‘Brittney’ Barton, the 21-year-old mother of two from Auldayr district, in Westmoreland told Observer Online in an interview on Saturday afternoon that she was sorry for her actions.

“I want to tell the world that I am so sorry. Because I felt dizzy. I am a good mother. If I was in my right mind [not feeling nauseous], I would not have done that to my child because I know how serious it is and I know ‘Twinkle’ [ the name the baby is affectionately called] is just one year and six months and if she gets a serious hit, she would die and I gone to prison,” the mother pleaded.

Barton alleged that she has been continuously bullied by one of the females in the video.

She gave her account of the incident stating that: “I was on the road when a girl stole my baby’s clothes and they called [the other woman in the video] that is my baby’s cousin because they know she always a bully me. She started to chuck and fight me, she fist the baby from my hand and started to beat me real bad”.

Barton claimed that upon feeling nauseous, the worst happened.

“Mi feel dizzy because a C-section me do and I have pressure. Mi feel dizzy mi never did wah drop the baby but because I feel dizzy mi never want her to get any serious damage. Suh mi a try to put her down,” she stated.

The mother said she is not of an unsound mind as many might be assuming.

“Mi nuh mad, mi alright. I just want my baby to be alright. If she is her cousin and Twinkle suh little, even she wanted to fight me she should have said Brittney put down the baby. Of Course I would have put down the baby but they want to fight me with the baby in hand,” the mother reasoned.

Barton claimed she has been abused by the family on more than one occasion.

“Because a dem regular habit. Har mother beat me when I was pregnant and mi move out a dem house, rent house and they still a provoke me. Even my [baby father] still nuh wah mind the baby, I do it after my own,” the distraught mother said.

Barton said she is willing to cooperate with CPSFA, who have since sent out a notice for anyone knowing her whereabouts to contact them.

“Yes, mi willing, willing to go in,” she confirmed.

The mother is hoping that the state-owned agency will give her mother or grandmother custody of the baby.

“Even if they are not willing to give me back the baby mi wish dem give mi mother the baby cause Twinkle does not deserve to go to homes and mi love mi baby to the max,” she stressed.

In the video, Barton was seen in a fist-fight with two women whilst holding her baby in hand. Shortly after the baby was tossed onto the pavement, she quickly grabbed the child by its clothing with one hand, picked up an object with the other and threw it at her opponent and the fighting continued. A crowd could be heard in the background cheering on the women.

Children’s Advocate, Diahann Gordon Harrison, has since voiced her concerns about the wave of child welfare and neglect sweeping the island in the wake of the viral video.

The Children’s Advocate also remarked on the apparent callousness of the bystanders who did not intervene. She dubbed that non-action as a species of ‘absent-mindedness’.

– Kimberley Peddie