Jersey City mother charged with hitting son with tire iron tells judge she hit him accidentally while defending herself during street incident

Wednesday, July 07, 2010
By MICHAELANGELO CONTE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

A Jersey City woman charged with hitting her 3-year-old son in the head with a tire iron cried at her first court appearance yesterday and said she mistakenly hit the boy while defending herself.

"I was getting beat up," said Coco Barker, 28, of Kennedy Boulevard, when she appeared in Central Judicial Processing court via video link from Hudson County jail in Kearny to face the charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

She is also charged with domestic violence and weapons offenses, reports said.

It was not clear yesterday who Barker was accusing of beating her. The boy's father, Jermaine Thomas, 38, of Jersey City, said that on Sunday Barker was upset and claimed someone had pointed a gun at her.

He arrived at her home off Bartholdi Avenue to find her "drunk and high" and in a conflict with a group of people after having called police about the gun, he said yesterday.

Thomas said he escorted Barker to a relative's vehicle and was going to take the boy and his 4-year-old daughter home but that Barker continued to argue with other people.

"I said 'You keep being ignorant. I'm going to leave you here and take the kids,'" Thomas said he told her.

Thomas said Barker became upset, grabbed a George Foreman grill from the relative's van and threw it at him before picking up the lug wrench.

He was cradling his son when she swung the wrench at him and hit his arm, then swung again and hit the boy in the face, Thomas said.

Early Monday, police did respond to the area on a report of a man pointing a gun at someone and saw David T. Burnitskie, 20, of Audubon Avenue, running away, reports said.

They chased him into the apartment of a woman who told police he pushed past her. Police arrested him at gunpoint, reports said, adding that they found what turned out to be a BB gun hidden under a table.

In court yesterday, Barker's public defender attorney said: "It appears it was a street fight, she was defending herself, and struck the victim by accident. The whole thing is ridiculous. This is just adding insult to injury."

The judge noted that Barker has several outstanding arrest warrants for driving violations, including driving without a license or insurance.

Barker was ordered held without bail until it can be set by a Superior Court judge.

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View Larger Map Jersey City mother facing charges and custody battle after hitting boy with wrench as she swings it at father, authorities say Tuesday, July 06, 2010 By MELISSA HAYES JOURNAL STAFF WRITER While swinging a lug wrench at the father of her child, a 28-year-old Jersey City woman hit her 3-year-old son in the head during an argument on a Jersey City street early yesterday. Coco Barker, of Kennedy Boulevard, was "highly intoxicated" and charged with aggravated assault, domestic violence, unlawful possession of weapons and possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes, according to police reports. Jermaine Thomas, 38, of Jersey City, said yesterday his son needed three stitches and underwent a precautionary CT scan, but was cleared and released. Thomas said Barker called him around midnight saying she had argued with a neighbor over fireworks and the man threatened her with a gun, so she called police and had the man arrested. Police had no report of that arrest yesterday, but the corner outside Barker's home was littered with firecracker debris. Because Barker was scared and upset and his 3-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter were with her, Thomas said he went to her home at Kennedy Boulevard and Bartholdi Avenue. Thomas said that when he arrived Barker appeared to be under the influence of something. He said he escorted Barker to a relative's car, but asked to take the children to his home. At that point, Thomas said, Barker became upset and grabbed a George Foreman grill from the relative's van and threw it at him before picking up the lug wrench. Thomas said he was cradling his son when she swung the wrench at him and hit his arm, then swung again and hit the child just above his nose. "My shirt was soaked from blood and I did scream for somebody to call the cops," he said. Thomas declined medical attention and went to the Jersey City Medical Center to be with his son. "My first priority is to make sure my children are safe," he said. "I had to go to the hospital to be with my son." Thomas said he plans to go to Superior Court today to file a restraining order against Barker and plans to seek full custody of the children. Barker remained in jail yesterday and is expected to appear today in Central Judicial Processing Court in Jersey City, Thomas said. According to police, the state Division of Family Youth Services was called.