A South Carolina woman was arrested after police said she beat her 6-year-old son over a Mother's Day card dispute.

Spartanburg police officers responded to a disturbance call at a residence Thursday evening. Officers found a woman with two children, a girl and a boy, and the boy was crying. The woman said she was the grandmother and that her daughter had slapped the crying child multiple times on the head, according to WBRC.

The boy's sister told police that their mother was angry because her brother had made a Mother's Day card for their grandmother and not their mother. Officers discovered a torn Mother's Day card at the scene, according to the WBRC report.

Police said the children's mother, Shontrell Murphy, 30, admitted to smacking the child but didn't believe she hit the child in a "hard or violent manner."

Murphy was arrested and charged with cruelty to children.

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Public Service Commission candidate Peter Hubbard gets a hug from Brionté McCorkle, executive director of Georgia Conservation Voters, during an election-night party in Southwest Atlanta on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025.  (Ben Gray for the AJC)

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