A Venus mother is accused of trying to drown her 2-and-1/2-year-old son on Friday night, Johnson County investigators said.
The Johnson County Sheriff's Department said Gayla Deforest, 41, beat her son and tried to down him in a bathtub.
Investigators said Deforest called her day care provider and told her she tried to kill her son. The provider picked up the child from Deforest's home and then called the sheriff's department.
Sheriff's investigators said Deforest told them she spanked her son until he was bruised after he dirtied a diaper and then made a mess on the wall with the diaper's contents.
Investigators said Deforest told them she put the boy in the bathtub to wash him off and proceeded to try to drown him twice. She then beat him with a large plastic kitchen spoon, investigators said.
The Johnson County Sheriff's Department said the boy is physically OK. He has been voluntarily placed in child protective custody.
Deforest is being held on a $500,000 bond. She is charged with attempted capital murder.
