Mother of Baby Called N-word & Slapped, Speaks Out (Watch)
*As we reported, Joe Rickey Hundley, 60, the Idaho businessman who allegedly hurled a racial slur before slapping a 19-month-old infant on a boozed-fueled flight has lost his job.
Meanwhile, Jessica Bennet, the mother of the child, is describing how Hundley allegedly attacked her son, Jonah, because he wouldn’t stop crying during their Feb. 8 Delta flight from Minneapolis.
She says the first shock came when she heard him call her son an “n-word” as the plane prepared to land in Atlanta, according to court documents.
RELATED: ‘Shut that N*gger Baby Up!’ Yells Airline Passenger Before Slapping Child
He “was so drunk that he fell onto my face, and his mouth moved over to my ear and he said it, just directly into my ear,” the Minneapolis mother claimed.
Hundley, from Hayden, Idaho, has been charged with simple assault and could face up to a year behind bars.
He had been sitting next to Bennett and her boy when the cabin pressure changed, causing Jonah to cry, Bennett said.
She alleges that Hundley had been drinking double vodkas before he blurted out: “Shut that n*gger baby up!”
RELATED STORY: ‘N*gger Baby’ Update: Joe Hundley Fired for Slapping 19-month-Old
Then he slapped Jonah near his eye with an open hand, which caused her son to bleed and bawl even harder, according to court documents.
“I could not believe he would say that and then hit him,” Bennett, 33, told NBC affiliate KARE. “I was shaking.”
She reiterated that Hundley “reeked” of alcohol.
“He was belligerent and I was uncomfortable,” Bennett added.
A Delta spokesman said flight attendants separated the passengers and called for law enforcement upon landing, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Hundley’s attorney said he plans to plead not guilty. Hundley claims he had only one drink and wasn’t violent with the infant.
“Hopefully, this situation can be resolved,” his attorney, Marcia Shein, told KARE. “ Both people are probably very nice. No one should rush to judgment.”
But Bennett said Jonah has been affected by the ordeal, and the child now acts “apprehensive to strangers.”
Bennett’s husband told KARE that Hundley should be punished. He previously pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault in a Virginia court in 2007.
“We want to see this guy do some time,” Josh Bennett said.
Meanwhile, Jessica Bennet, the mother of the child, is describing how Hundley allegedly attacked her son, Jonah, because he wouldn’t stop crying during their Feb. 8 Delta flight from Minneapolis.
She says the first shock came when she heard him call her son an “n-word” as the plane prepared to land in Atlanta, according to court documents.
RELATED: ‘Shut that N*gger Baby Up!’ Yells Airline Passenger Before Slapping Child
He “was so drunk that he fell onto my face, and his mouth moved over to my ear and he said it, just directly into my ear,” the Minneapolis mother claimed.
Hundley, from Hayden, Idaho, has been charged with simple assault and could face up to a year behind bars.
He had been sitting next to Bennett and her boy when the cabin pressure changed, causing Jonah to cry, Bennett said.
She alleges that Hundley had been drinking double vodkas before he blurted out: “Shut that n*gger baby up!”
RELATED STORY: ‘N*gger Baby’ Update: Joe Hundley Fired for Slapping 19-month-Old
Then he slapped Jonah near his eye with an open hand, which caused her son to bleed and bawl even harder, according to court documents.
“I could not believe he would say that and then hit him,” Bennett, 33, told NBC affiliate KARE. “I was shaking.”
She reiterated that Hundley “reeked” of alcohol.
“He was belligerent and I was uncomfortable,” Bennett added.
A Delta spokesman said flight attendants separated the passengers and called for law enforcement upon landing, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Hundley’s attorney said he plans to plead not guilty. Hundley claims he had only one drink and wasn’t violent with the infant.
“Hopefully, this situation can be resolved,” his attorney, Marcia Shein, told KARE. “ Both people are probably very nice. No one should rush to judgment.”
But Bennett said Jonah has been affected by the ordeal, and the child now acts “apprehensive to strangers.”
Bennett’s husband told KARE that Hundley should be punished. He previously pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault in a Virginia court in 2007.
“We want to see this guy do some time,” Josh Bennett said.
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‘Shut that N*gger Baby Up!’ Yells Airline Passenger Before Slapping Child
February 16, 2013 by EurPublisher 50 Comments
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60-yr-old Joe Rickey Hundley & 19-month-old Jonah Bennett
*No, he didn’t!
Just when we think we’ve heard it all in terms of racists remarks and actions, along comes the story of a white airline passenger who not only told the mother of a crying child to “shut that ***** baby up,” but then proceeded to allegedly slap the 19-month-old baby across the face.
RELATED STORY: ‘N*gger Baby’ Update: Joe Hundley Fired for Slapping 19-month-Old
This all happened on February 8 aboard Delta Air Lines Flight 721. As a result – according to a US District Court affidavit - Joe Rickey Hundley, 60, has been charged with simple assault. Hundley, is president of an aircraft parts manufacturer headquartered in Hayden, Idaho, according to The Smoking Gun.
In an interview, Hundley denied striking the toddler or using a racial slur, though he did acknowledge that he “asked the mother to quiet the child.” Hundley, who said he was traveling to Atlanta to visit a hospitalized relative, described himself as “distraught” on the flight, during which he said he consumed a single alcoholic drink.
As detailed by FBI Agent Daron Cheney, Hundley was traveling to Atlanta from Minneapolis in seat 28A on the MD-90 twin-engine jet. He was seated next to Jessica Bennett, who shared seat 28B with her son Jonah.
Bennett, 33, told investigators that the “aircraft was in final descent” to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport when her child “started to cry due to the altitude change.” Bennett added that she “was trying to get [her son] to stop crying, but he continued.”
At this point, Bennett recalled, Hundley used the racial epithet as he told her to shut the child up. He then allegedly “turned around and slapped” the toddler in the face “with an open hand, which caused the juvenile victim to scream even louder.” The slap, Bennett said, “caused a scratch below [the child’s] right eye.”
If any of this is true, Mr. Hundley should be grateful he’s still vertical. He’s very lucky he didn’t strike the child of any number of mothers we know. We’ll just leave at that. But, what would you do?