Cops: 3-year-old beaten for not eating dinner

Elizabeth Messick and Chad Viney

A 3-year-old girl and an 8-year-old boy are in Department of Children’s Services custody after they were allegedly beaten with a belt, Metro Police said.

Police said the mother, Elizabeth Messick, 27, and her boyfriend, Chad Viney, 31, admitted beating the 3-year-old because she would not eat her dinner.

Both children were treated at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital and released into DCS custody.

Messick and Viney, of Archwood Place, are each charged with two counts of aggravated child abuse. They are both being held on $80,000 bond.