Boyfriend of Mom in Abandoned Baby Case Charged with Assault

The boyfriend of a woman charged with abandoning her six-week-old daughter on the side of the road – an allegation she disputes – has been charged with assaulting the woman.

Charging documents claim Cordell Lee Hall, 26, of Baltimore, grabbed Sandra McClary’s wrist several times, and pushed her in the chest and head. He is charged with second-degree assault for the July 4 incident, reports WTOP.

McClary, 26, of Baltimore, was charged Sunday with child neglect and reckless endangerment. Authorities say she left her infant daughter, Angelique, along an Anne Arundel County road. A neighbor spotted the girl in a car seat Saturday night, went to check, found the infant and called police.

SEE ALSO: Suspect in Abandoned Baby Case ‘Tries to Be Good Mother’

Hall reportedly argued several times with McClary because she got lost driving the couple to a party, according to court documents. After the arguments, police say McClary removed the infant carrier from the car, and left the girl and Hall on the side of the road in Pasadena, says WTOP.

McClary told police Hall will kill her if she returns to their home.

During a Tuesday bail hearing for Sandra McClary, authorities said she is the mother of four children ages 6, 3, 1, and six-week-old Angelique, reports WTOP. The 3-year-old and baby are in the custody of social services.

McClary is an abuse victim who tries to be a good mother, her mother said at her daughter’s court hearing. A judge set McClary’s bail at $500,000 as prosecutors argued she was a flight risk with a criminal past.

When police blanketed the media with a plea to help find the abandoned baby’s parents, McClary called police the following morning. She claimed the infant’s father was supposed to have the child and she didn’t know where the man was. The mother also told dispatchers she did not know of the baby’s whereabouts, police say.

SEE ALSO:

• Mother of Abandoned Infant Awaiting Trial on 26 Charges in Armed Robberies
• Mother of Infant Abandoned Along Road Charged with Neglect

Belinda Deberry says her daughter, McClary, provides for her children.

“She tries to be a good mother…. Her kids really love her,” Deberry said in court, according to WTOP. “Sometimes things are hard and there might be struggles. But overall, she’s done okay.”

McClary didn’t abandon her daughter, Deberry testified at her bail hearing. Rather, McClary was struck and threatened by her boyfriend as she drove, so she stopped the car, and he got out, taking the infant and her car seat with him. Believing the boyfriend had Angelique, McClary drove away, her mother told authorities.

This isn’t McClary’s first encounter with police. In September 2014 McClary and a Baltimore man were charged last year with 26 counts of robbery and other crimes for repeatedly targeting a liquor store and convenience store in Brooklyn Park, Patch earlier reported.

Phillip Thomas McGowans and McClary were charged with armed robbery and related crimes for allegedly robbing The Village Liquor at 720 Church St. and Spencer’s One Stop Convenience Store at 4300 Richie Hwy. Authorities claimed McGowans and McClary robbed The Village Liquor Store twice last year. Detectives suspect they may have committed other area robberies, including other holdups at Village Liquor.

According to online court records, McClary’s trial on the store holdups has been delayed several times in the past year. She is now scheduled to stand trial on that in September.