EXCLUSIVE: Bond set at $5 million for mother charged with striking, biting her infant daughter

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - A Jackson Municipal Court judge has ensured the mother accused of abusing -- even biting -- her four-month-old child doesn’t get out of jail anytime soon, setting her bond at $5 million after a court appearance Monday.

Court documents obtained exclusively by 3 On Your Side indicate Judge Jeff Reynolds issued the bond after 22-year-old Danielle Richards appeared in his court on a felony child abuse charge.

An affidavit signed by a Jackson Police Department detective describes injuries Richards allegedly inflicted upon her child, including a brain bleed, broken collar bone, scratches, blisters, and bite marks on the infant’s left arm.

The incident, which happened on Sept. 22, led to Richards’ arrest by JPD officers the next week.

Filings reveal Richards confessed to “horrendously injuring her own baby” to the point that the child had to be admitted to an intensive care unit at an area hospital.

The court has ordered Richards, who is pregnant with twins, to give the state’s department of human services those children upon their birth.

In addition, Richards is not allowed to have any contact with the four-month-old girl, her twins once they’re born and any child under the age of 13.

The case will be transferred to Hinds County Court for further adjudication.

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