Fort Pierce mother sentenced to jail for whipping daughter, 3 for not coloring

FORT PIERCE — A 25-year-old Fort Pierce woman was sentenced Friday to 18 months in prison on a child abuse charge for whipping her daughter for not coloring.

Natayia L. Atmore, who pleaded no contest to the charge in August, faced up to five years in prison. The sentence was levied by Circuit Judge Dan Vaughn.

According to a St. Lucie County Sheriff’s office arrest report, a Department of Children and Families worker called deputies to Atmore’s home in April after seeing a 3-year-old girl with deep purple bruises on her arm and back.

The girl told deputies, “My mommy whooped me.” When deputies asked why, the girl said, “My mommy had to.”

Atmore said she had been trying to teach the girl how to color when the girl became silent and wouldn’t cooperate.