BLACKFOOT — A local mother was recently arrested after police say she repeatedly shook her infant daughter violently, resulting in the child suffering internal injuries and being removed from her care.

Brenwyn E. Richey, 26, of Blackfoot, has been charged with one count of felony injury to a child following a Blackfoot police investigation that began in December 2025, according to police and court records the Idaho State Journal recently obtained.

The investigation began Dec. 28, 2025, when a Blackfoot police officer responded to a domestic disturbance at Richey’s Blackfoot apartment, police said.

Richey told responding officers she had previously handled the 2-month-old baby aggressively, bouncing the infant on her leg and using excessive force to put the child down, police said.

Richey provided a physical demonstration of the leg-bouncing, which the officer described as a rapid and forceful vertical motion, according to the report. She told officers her behavior was a recurring issue, adding she was trying to work on it, police said.

The officer then conducted separate interviews with two witnesses, according to the report. One witness told police he had personally observed Richey shaking the infant in a manner he described as a constant jolt lasting between five and 15 minutes, or until the infant stopped crying, police said.

A second witness told officers Richey yanked the child by the leg when she was only one week old and that she allowed the infant to dangle from a carrier without head or neck support, the report says.

When confronted about the carrier incident, Richey told investigators the child “was not made of glass” and that “people do it all the time,” police said.

Officers also learned the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare sent Richey a letter Dec. 11, 2025, notifying her of a substantiated incident of abuse, neglect or abandonment, according to the report.

After consulting with the Bingham County Prosecutor's Office on Dec. 29, when police were dispatched to Richey's home for the second time in two days, law enforcement authorized an emergency removal of the infant from her custody and Child Protective Services assisted in placing the child in a safe home, court records show.

On Jan. 2, a doctor examined the infant and identified possible internal injuries, noting that the baby’s eyes appeared abnormally droopy for her developmental age, police said. A follow-up medical report Jan. 18 confirmed the infant was suffering from persistent internal swelling of an undetermined cause, according to the report.

The Bingham County Prosecutor’s Office charged Richey with felony injury to a child Feb. 26 and issued a summons for her to appear in court March 26. Richey was arrested that day, transported to the Bingham County Jail in Blackfoot, fingerprinted, photographed and then transported to the Bingham County Courthouse, authorities said.

She appeared before 7th District Magistrate Judge Paul Laggis for an arraignment hearing, where she was ordered released on her own recognizance.

Richey is scheduled to appear in court again Thursday for a preliminary hearing. Prosecutors will attempt to present sufficient evidence to elevate the case from magistrate to district court for trial.

If convicted of the felony injury to a child charge, Richey faces between one and 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $50,000.