St. Paul mom accused of choking kids over missing cigarettes - KMSP-TV

St. Paul mom accused of choking kids over missing cigarettes

A St. Paul mother of two is accused of choking and hitting her kids because she was having trouble finding her cigarettes after drinking nearly a full bottle of vodka.

Nicole McBride, 28, has been charged in Ramsey County with two counts of malicious punishment of a child and two counts of domestic assault by strangulation. According to the charges, child abuse in McBride's home isn't uncommon, but a neighbor overheard what sounded like especially horrific abuse on the night of June 18.

When police arrived at the apartment on Earl Street, they could hear McBride yelling for someone to find her cigarettes and what sounded like a person being thrown around the apartment. Moments later, they heard a child's screaming voice and McBride telling the hysterical girl she better find her cigarettes or she would kill her little brother in front of her.

Officers arrested McBride when she came to the door. Inside, they found her one-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter, who had plenty to share with police.

The girl said her mom drank nearly a full bottle of vodka – a .750 ml bottle that was still sitting on the coffee table, with about an inch of liquor left. The girl said her mom choked her twice and her little brother four times.

McBride told police she was only kidding about the missing cigarettes, and that grabbing and choking her kids is "how she plays with her kids." McBride also allegedly knocked the baby boy out of a chair, then picked up the chair and hit him with it. She said it was a "foam type" chair and that she did it "in a playful manner."