(Memphis) A Cordova woman is in jail, accused of shooting her boyfriend.
Police say April Taylor shot her live-in boyfriend because he was beating their young child with a belt.
The shooting is sparking debate on child discipline.
Taylor told police that she only meant to hit him in the head with the gun but ended up shooting her boyfriend while trying to stop him from whipping their child with a belt.
A neighbor rushed Taylor’s boyfriend from the Cordova apartment to the MED.
Rescue workers say he’s going to survive.
“That’s crazy,” said Chantel Robbins.
Robbins, Taylor’s next door neighbor, didn’t see the commotion Monday, but has her own opinions about what happened and disciplining children.
“I got whippings growing up so I’m not against it,” said Robbins. “Yes. I was whipped with the belt. It hurt but it got me to act right. I grew up to be very respectful so I’m not against it. Some kids need whippings.”
“The dad was extreme in the punishment and the mother was extreme in how she stopped it,” said Melissa Farfar, the director of victims’ services at the Exchange Club Family Center.
Farfar helps victims of domestic violence and helps parents learn better ways to discipline.
“Never use an instrument,” she said.
While the law only requires parents never to leave a mark, she says the Exchange Club recommends never to hit – period.
“There are a lot of different ways we can teach kids without ever laying a hand on them.”
Farfar says Taylor and her boyfriend could have asked for help, attended some parenting classes, before it had to came down to this.
Taylor’s now charged with aggravated assault for shooting her boyfriend and is in jail on a $30,000 bond.
