Cops: Gwinnett couple accused of child cruelty locked daughter in empty bedroom

A Gwinnett County couple have been arrested on charges of child cruelty after they were accused of isolating their 6-year-old daughter in a dirty bedroom for hours at a time.

Tiphanie Lanier, 29, and Joseph Lipscomb, 35, who shared a home in Snellville, were booked into the Gwinnett County Jail on Monday night on one count each of first-degree cruelty to children, online jail records show. Lipscomb was also charged with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Officers who responded to the home on Broxton Mill Court in Snellville discovered that Lipscomb and Lanier had been locking their daughter in one of the bedrooms of their rental house, Gwinnett police spokeswoman Officer Hideshi Valle confirmed to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Arrest warrants obtained by Channel 2 Action News described the room as mostly empty, filled only with trash, a broken mattress and a 2-inch foam mattress topper where the girl slept.

The warrants claim that between late August and early November, Lipscomb and Lanier shut their daughter away to stop her from interacting with their other children. The couple would only let her out late at night when the other children had gone to bed.

These latest accusations come on the heels of another child cruelty case that tragically resulted in an 8-year-old girl’s death.

Amari Hall was reported missing Nov. 21, but Gwinnett police quickly realized that the statements of her mother, Brittany Hall, and her domestic partner, Celeste Owens, did not match, the AJC previously reported. Amari’s body was found several days later, but Hall and Owens had already been arrested on child cruelty charges. Both women have now been charged with murder, among other counts.