Police say Cleveland woman cut infant son's ear

CLEVELAND (AP) -- A Cleveland woman was charged with felonious assault Saturday, two days after police said she nearly severed a portion of her 11-month-old son's ear.
Tonya Edwards, 35, also faces charges of domestic violence and child endangering, said Cleveland police Lt. Thomas Stacho. The case will be presented to a grand jury.
Micah Belcher Jr. was treated at MetroHealth Medical Center. A nursing supervisor said he was no longer at the hospital on Saturday.
Micah Belcher Sr., 45, the child's father and Edwards' boyfriend, told police that Edwards threw hot oil on him and the child after he refused her request for money, Stacho said. The father told officers he later saw Edwards with a knife and she told him she had accidentally bitten the child's ear.
A doctor told police the child's ear was not bitten but had been cut by a sharp instrument. Stacho said the child underwent surgery for the ear injury.
Edwards told police her boyfriend punched her, causing the baby to fall to the floor, and that she threw oil at the man, Stacho said. She also told officers that the father bit the boy's ear.
Edwards was being held in a city jail on Saturday. The child was placed in the temporary custody of the Cuyahoga County Department of Children and Family Services.
The department's executive director, James McCafferty, said it was unlikely the mother would regain custody. The department removed seven children from the woman's care several years ago following allegations of abuse and neglect. That case was closed in 2003 and McCafferty said the agency was unaware she had another child.