Ennisha Dever, the 16-year-old mother of a diaper-clad toddler who was caught on camera blurting out curse words and other obscenities, has spoken out about the infamous viral video and criticism of her parenting habits.
The nearly 90-second video captures the voices of adults in the room who encourage the young boy to use profanity. It shows the toddler repeating racial slurs and inappropriate comments as the adults are heard snickering off-camera.
It was uploaded to Facebook by a family relative and later posted on the website of the Omaha Police Officers Association, who titled it “The Thug Cycle.”
According to KETV, the child was originally under the care of his grandmother, Kimberly Devers. However, Devers was arrested in December after police came to their home and discovered five firearms in the house where children were present.
A petition also states that the young boy was one of several injured when gunshots were fired into the home in October.
With the boy’s grandmother in jail, 19-year-old Kierra Johnson took care of the toddler and the three other children in the home, including his 16-year-old mother. Authorities said Johnson visited a caseworker just days before the video was posted online citing trouble with the family relative who published the clip on Facebook.
Nebraska’s Child Protective Services found strong enough grounds to take the boy, his 16-year-old mother and her two siblings, ages 12 and 15, into protective custody after concerns were raised over their safety.
His mother, Ennisha, told KETV that her brother recorded the video and that she is upset with him for doing so.
“He was wrong for doing it — posting the video up and getting us into a situation,” she told KETV.
Devers said she was reportedly in another room at the time it was taped.
“That video — it wasn’t me. It was a person that came in to my house and recorded it. Everybody that thinks I’m a bad mother, I’m not. I’m a good mother to my son. I teach him a lot, and he is very smart,” she said. “All that cussing that he did, he doesn’t do that. Somebody told him to do that. My son doesn’t do that. I don’t allow it.”
The mother, who is currently separated from her son, is under state care and awaits to see if protective services will place her and her son in the same foster home. She said she is aware of that their previous home has a history of gang activity and she believes that this is what prompted police officers to make a visit.
“They didn’t come because the video. They came because of the gang violence and everything that happened with us,” she said. “They weren’t worried about the video because he had a clean diaper. The house was clean. Like they said, kids cuss.”
To view the original video of the young boy, click here. (Warning: It contains expletive language.)
Follow Lilly Workneh on Twitter @Lilly_Works