Background: Tameria Barnett appears in court (KHOU/YouTube). Inset: Tameria Barnett (Harris County Sheriff’s Office).
A Texas woman was charged with injury to a child after she allegedly inflicted “life-threatening” injuries to a 4-year-old she was caring for.
Tameria Barnett, 30, was released from Harris County Jail in Houston after making her $100,000 bond while the young girl she is accused of harming remains hospitalized in critical condition. Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez posted on X, formerly Twitter, that the child was the daughter of a friend of Barnett’s who is currently in prison.
Gonzalez wrote in his thread on X that police responded to a call from the hospital where the child had been taken on Nov. 26. The injuries had been deemed “life-threatening” by hospital personnel, who also relayed to police that the girl presented with signs of past abuse. Gonzalez added in an additional post that he believed the girl was allegedly “beat daily for months.” The girl was transferred to Texas Children’s Hospital in serious condition.
Due to the severe nature of the child’s injuries, Gonzalez said that homicide detectives were investigating the case. Barnett was arrested on Nov. 29 and charged with injury to a child. According to KHOU, a local CBS affiliate, Barnett admitted during her appearance in probate court that she “[beat] the girl with her hands and a belt on multiple occasions.”
— Barnett had been caring for the girl since September 2024, when the girl’s mother was incarcerated.
Barnett was released from Harris County Jail after making her $100,000 bond. Her next court appearance is Dec. 2.
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