Mother charged with abusing her 3-year-old

By LEE HIGGINS – lhiggins@thestate.com

The mother of the 3-year-old girl who was kicked in the head and abdomen by her father over “potty training issues” was arrested Saturday, Richland County sheriff’s deputies said.

Nicole D. Ford, 26, was charged with unlawful neglect of a child after being released from a Columbia hospital where she gave birth Friday to her fifth child, sheriff’s spokesman Lt. Chris Cowan said.

Ford is accused of physically abusing the 3-year-old over an “extended period of time,” leaving bruises to her head and body, Cowan said.

The 3-year-old remains in critical condition at Palmetto Health Richland, where she was transferred Tuesday from Providence Hospital Northeast.

The girl’s father, Keion J. Gibson, 30, was charged Tuesday with inflicting great bodily injury upon a child, deputies said.

Investigators were called Tuesday to Providence Hospital, where the girl was being treated for severe bruises and internal injuries to her head and body, deputies said.

Gibson is accused of repeatedly kicking the girl while she was lying on the floor of their apartment, deputies said. He said it was “because of potty training issues,” deputies said.

Doctors confirmed the girl suffered injuries prior to that attack, Cowan said.

The girl, newborn baby and other siblings ages 1, 5 and 6 are in the custody of the State Department of Social Services, authorities said.

Gibson and Ford are at Richland County jail.