A man slapped a baby on a plane when it wouldn't stop crying. The man physically assaulted the child and used racist terms to describe it.
Joe Rickey Hundley, 60 got fed up with a 19-month old child that wouldn't stop crying on a Delta flight to Atlanta on February 8. Before the man slapped the infant in the face, he told the mother to "shut that n****r baby up," the Daily Mail reports.
Bennett told police that her son started crying when the altitude changed as the plane was preparing to land.
Bennett told authorities that her son 'started to cry due to the altitude change' as the service from Minneapolis to Atlanta prepared for landing. Bennett and her son were on the way to a family funeral. She was unable to stop Jonah from crying.
Hundley, who was sitting next to her, turned to Bennett and used the racial slur before slapping the child with an open hand. The hit caused the child to scream even louder. Bennett also says the hit caused a scratch below Jonah's right eye.
Hundley, who is the president of an aircraft parts manufacturer in Idaho, was charged with assault after hitting Jessica Bennett's adopted baby, Jonah, according to The Smoking Gun.
He denied slapping the child and using the racial slur, but he did admit to asking her to quiet Jonah.
He also admitted to drinking on the plane as he was going to Atlanta to visit a relative in the hospital. He said he had one drink. Bennett believes he was drunk and said he "reeked of alcohol" since he drank several double vodkas.
After the incident, Bennett was helped by other passengers. One passenger claims he say Hudley hit the child.
Agent Cheney added that Bennett received help from other passengers on the Delta flight. Todd Wooten, who was seated 12 rows ahead, told authorities that he 'heard derogatory language coming from the rear of the aircraft' and went to see what was going on.
This isn't Hudley's first criminal charge. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault after he got in a fight with his girlfriend in 2007.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
