KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A 29-year-old woman was arrested Friday evening after witnesses saw her punch a child in the face in a South Knoxville parking lot and called police.  

Loren Whaley, 29, is charged with felony child abuse. 

According to a warrant for Whaley’s arrest, Knoxville police were called to the parking lot of Kroger on Chapman Highway near West Young High Pike around 7 p.m. for a report of a woman hitting a 7-year-old in the face. 

When officers arrived, they met with a witness who said he saw Whaley drag the child by his arm into a white car in the Kroger parking lot, then hit the child twice in the face with a closed fist, the warrant stated. A second witness corroborated what happened, according to the warrant. 

Police contacted the child, and at first, he told the officer he had a nosebleed. Documents said the officer asked the child if he had been hit, and he was hesitant to answer. The child said he didn’t feel it “right here” and pointed to the right side of his face, according to the warrant. 

The officers noted the child’s face was red and he had dried blood on his shorts and leg. The child eventually told officers that Whaley pulled him by his arm to the car and hit him in the face, the warrant stated.     

When officers contacted Whaley, she was sitting in the driver’s seat of the car with the door open and was washing her hands with a water bottle. Officers asked her what happened, and she replied that she needed to get her phone several times, the warrant states. Officers noted in the warrant that Whaley didn’t give officers an explanation of what happened. 

The child was released to his mother, according to the warrant. It’s unclear what relation Whaley shares with the child. 

She was booked into the Knox County Jail on Saturday afternoon. She’s due in court Monday morning.