The mother of Jorelys Rivera, the young girl killed by a a Canton, Ga., apartment complex groundskeeper in December, was recently arrested and charged with domestic abuse for beating up her girlfriend.
Jocelyn Rivera-Ruiz was arrested for allegedly beating up her girlfriend on Monday, May 14, according to a story in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
A police report states that Rivera-Ruiz and her partner, Maria Americano, got into a fight and when police arrived on the scene they found Americano locked in a bedroom with Rivera-Ruiz’s children ages 1 and 4.
From the AJC:
The woman told police that she had tried to leave the apartment, but Rivera-Ruiz wouldn’t let her. That’s when Americano told police she “popped” her partner in the eye.
Rivera-Ruiz admitted to police that Americano was trying to leave, so she grabbed her and held her down, the report said. When police asked about her bruised eye, Rivera-Ruiz said she got it after tripping and hitting her head on a piece of furniture.
Rivera-Ruiz denied that she and Americano had gotten into a fight, according to police.
Police said they arrested both women, charging each of them with battery and cruelty to children.
Jorelys Rivera, 7, was killed in December. Ryan Brunn, convicted in the killing, committed suicide in his prison cell.