Mother Arrested for Slapping Six-Year-Old Son

​ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — A St. Augustine mother has been arrested and permanently banned from Instacart after a customer’s Ring doorbell camera captured her verbally berating and violently slapping her 6-year-old son during a grocery delivery.

​The St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office announced that 36-year-old Kiah Lowery has been charged with child abuse without great bodily harm. The arrest followed a multi-agency investigation involving the sheriff’s Special Victims Unit, the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF), and the State Attorney’s Office for Florida’s 7th Judicial Circuit.

​The incident occurred on May 31, 2026, at an apartment complex on Alta Street. A homeowner reviewed their surveillance footage after receiving a delivery and was horrified by the interaction outside their front door. The resident immediately contacted law enforcement and shared the footage online, sparking widespread outrage and prompting a public push to identify the woman.

​According to authorities and footage of the encounter, Lowery was attempting to fulfill three separate orders at the complex. In the video, she can be heard aggressively scolding her son as he struggled to hold a basket of groceries. She then demanded that he carry a 24-pack case of bottled water, ordering him to put his hands out.

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​Police reports note a severe physical imbalance in the request: the boy weighs just 49 pounds, while the case of water weighed approximately 26 pounds—more than half of the child’s entire body weight.

​The 6-year-old immediately panicked, crying out that the load was too heavy before dropping it. The packaging broke open, sending water bottles scattering across the hallway floor. When the frightened child tried to run away, Lowery chased him down, grabbed him by his shirt, and struck him across the face. The sound of the blow echoed loudly through the concrete hallway. Lowery then unleashed a barrage of profanities, telling the crying child, “You’re the worst. The f**ing worst,” before calling him a “piece of sht” and ordering him to pick up the items.

​During police questioning, Lowery claimed her son was being defiant and apologized for her behavior, telling detectives she became “overstimulated” while trying to manage multiple grocery orders.

​Instacart released a statement calling the footage “alarming and completely unacceptable.” The company confirmed that Lowery has been permanently removed from the platform. Instacart also emphasized its strict corporate policy that explicitly prohibits shoppers from bringing anyone—including their own children—along on deliveries unless that individual also possesses a valid shopper account.

​Lowery was booked into the St. Johns County Jail and has since released after posting a $5,000 bond. As a condition of her release, a judge has issued a strict no-contact order, prohibiting Lowery from seeing or communicating with her son, and requiring her to maintain a distance of at least 500 feet from him. Authority figures have not yet confirmed who has temporary custody of the child.