A video of a baby smoking a cigar sparked social media users on Wednesday, who alerted North Carolina authorities and helped them identify the 20-year-old mother. The mother is identified as Brianna Ashanti Lofton.
The 10-second video shared on social media showed the hand of an adult off-screen. Holding what appears to be a cigarillo to the infant’s lips. The child then makes a cooing sound before inhaling and letting out a puff of smoke.
The video got more than 1.5 million views and helped North Carolina authorities identify and arrest the mother, 20-year-old Brianna Ashanti Lofton.
Brianna Ashanti Lofton is charged with two counts of felony child abuse and possession of marijuana, Raleigh police said in a news release.
Police said the child is safe and has been placed with Wake County Child Protective Services. Brianna Ashanti Lofton is being held at the Wake County Detention Center.
“Big thanks to everyone who posted information about the smoking mother and baby,” police told their Facebook followers in a post Wednesday afternoon. Dozens of their followers began posting the video and comments about it on the Raleigh Police Department’s Facebook page just after 9:30 a.m. Wednesday.
Rasheed Martin, the Facebook user who posted the video online, said he was happy he helped to raise awareness as he wanted the person responsible to be held accountable.
“Once more and more people found out about this situation, they showed me a screenshot of her actual Facebook page,” he said.
“Then I later added it to the post so everyone could know exactly who… did that to the poor little girl.”
Martin continued to post updates on the mother and the child throughout the day.
“Pray for That Baby,” he wrote early Wednesday afternoon. Upon hearing that the mother was arrested, he wrote, “That Was My Sole Purpose For Posting It.
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