Mom accused of shoving cloth ball into baby’s mouth appears in court

The woman accused of shoving a cotton-ball-size object down her baby’s throat inside a hospital room last year appeared in court Friday for a bond hearing.

Prosecutors recently upgraded the charge against Chevonne Younginer, 18, to attempted homicide by child abuse. She had initially been charged with unlawful neglect.

Younginer didn’t speak during the hearing. Her attorney, Steve Davis, said she is in school and comes from a very supportive family.

Younginer has been involved in counseling since the incident and is moving forward with her life, Davis said.

Circuit Judge Roger Young released her on a $10,000 personal recognizance bond.

The charge stems from an incident that occurred on Feb. 2, 2012. Younginer was caught on camera inside her child’s hospital room, which was being monitored, after the child was checked in because of what was described by Medical University of South Carolina police as a “history of life-threatening episodes.”

A video showed Younginer taking an object, described as a white cloth ball taken from a stuffed toy bear’s hat, and shoving the item into the child’s mouth, according to an MUSC police incident report.

MUSC staff members were able to dislodge the ball from the mouth of the infant, who was 6 months old at the time.

After the incident, the child was taken into protective custody.