Joe Rickey Hundley Pleads Guilty To Smacking Toddler on Plane Flight

The man accused of slapping a crying toddler on a plane will plead guilty this week.

In February, Joe Rickey Hundley of Hayden, Idaho, smacked the son of Jessica Bennet on a flight from Minneapolis to Atlanta.

Hundley was seated next to the woman and her 19th-month-old son when the Delta Flight 721 began its descent into Atlanta. When the toddler began to cry, Hundley told her to “shut the nigger baby up”.

According to court documents, Hundley next “turned around and slapped [the baby] in the face with an open hand, which caused the juvenile victim to scream even louder.” The boy suffered a scratch below the right eye.

Bennet claimed Hundley was “belligerent” and “reeked of alcohol”.

Initially, Hundley plead not guilty to the attack. Citing Hundley was distraught over his only son being in a coma following a insulin overdose.

He now faces a maximum of one year in prison and a $100,000 fine.