Zachary woman accused of beating girls with belt on TikTok

BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — An investigation into the beating of two girls with a belt and the condition of the home they were living in led to the arrest of a Louisiana woman.

Katherine Mayo, 28, of Zachary, was charged with cruelty to juveniles.

The East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office was called to Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital just after 12:15 a.m. on May 4, 2025.

When they arrived, deputies started an investigation that involved a three-year-old girl and a four-year-old girl.

The two girls were brought to the hospital by their father and were found to have infections, insect bites, bruises, rashes, erythema in the genitourinary region, scratches, lesions, and head lice, according to the affidavit.

EBRSO said there were no signs of sexual trauma in this case. Their father told authorities that he saw Mayo beating the girls with a belt buckle on TikTok. After seeing the livestream video, he contacted the Zachary woman.

He said she “denied the allegations and told him to come pick up the children and be done with her,” according to EBRSO.

The man picked up his daughters and took them home, where they played and had dinner.

At some point, he and his fiancée determined that the two girls required medical attention. This was due to him finding rashes on them while changing their diapers and finding “an unknown foreign object in one of the child’s vaginal region,” according to the affidavit.

The father said Mayo lived with her parents and grandparents and their home was dirty with mold and a leaky roof. He said there were also multiple cats in the home, and it smelled like cat urine.

The man told law enforcement that the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services was contacted multiple times about the “deplorable conditions” that the girls lived in.

As the investigation unfolded, EBRSO learned that there were four different cases that DCFS was involved in related to Mayo.

EBRSO said one case “was validated for neglect and lack of adequate supervision.”

Mayo was subsequently interviewed by law enforcement, during which she admitted to hitting the girl on their butts with a belt while on TikTok.

The Zachary woman said she was frustrated and “kind of took it a little too far,” according to the affidavit.

Mayo said she should have taken the girls to the hospital for their dermatological conditions, and she regretted not doing so.

A warrant was obtained, and the home where Mayo was staying was searched by EBRSO.

Authorities said the home smelled like urine inside, and EBRSO referred to it as having “substandard and hazardous living conditions.”

They found the roof structure had been breached, and there was water damage along with mold.

EBRSO said they located dog feces on the back patio where the kids played. In addition, no medications were found to treat the children’s dermatological conditions.

During a follow-up interview, Mayo said it was “inappropriate” to discipline with a belt and accepted responsibility for the neglect.

The Zachary woman was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on Wednesday, July 30.

Latest News