Christmas should be a time for families to come together and celebrate.
But for one Florida family, Christmas Day turned into a nightmare that landed a mother behind bars.
And three words from one Florida mom sent her straight to jail on Christmas.
Fort Myers mother filmed herself abusing young daughter
Krysten Ann Happel, 36, thought she could get away with abusing her young daughter and threatening to kill the child's father.
She was wrong.
On Christmas Day in Fort Myers, Happel sent her friend a series of "disturbing" text messages and videos that would seal her fate.¹
The videos showed Happel "repeatedly battering" her daughter's head by "forcefully tapping and nudging it," according to Fort Myers Police Department documents.¹
Police noted that because of the child's extremely young age, "her cranial bones are extremely vulnerable to injury, along with her brain."¹
But Happel wasn't done there.
The footage showed her throwing a blanket over her daughter's entire face while the child was helpless.
That's when Happel said the three words that would land her in jail.
"Get your ugly a** out of here," Happel told her own daughter while filming the abuse.¹
She followed that by saying "someone come get this demonized child that came from f**boy" while continuing to batter the little girl's head on camera.¹
Friend who received videos called police immediately
The friend who received these horrific videos knew exactly what to do.
She called Fort Myers police and asked for a wellness check on the child.
The friend had met Happel through her husband and had even offered to help Happel retain custody of her daughter by providing housing.²
But over time, Happel received assistance through the Salvation Army and didn't need the help anymore.
That's when things took a dark turn.
Along with the abuse videos, Happel sent text messages threatening to murder her daughter's father.
"Im gonna go and set [him] on fire and watch him f**ing burn to death," Happel wrote in one message.¹
She continued: "how the f*** do I even f***boys have his back anyone wanna help me out cause I aint gonna be satisfied till i fing kill him with my bare hands and spend the rest of my life in prison ha ha ha ha ha."¹
Police found both Happel and her daughter at a Salvation Army branch.
When officers arrived, they discovered the little girl "soaked in her own urine as if it had been hours since she had her diaper changed last."¹
Happel was arrested on the spot.
Suspect admitted to everything on camera
After being read her Miranda rights, Happel was surprisingly talkative during her custodial interview.
"Happel admitted to doing what was displayed in the video and she emphasized that she admitted to saying what was said and doing what was done, to [the girl]," the charging document states.¹
She even "took credit for the text messages that were sent along with the video."¹
Happel now faces charges of cruelty toward a child – child abuse without great bodily harm.
She's also being held on an out-of-state warrant as a fugitive from justice in Georgia.
The defendant is currently detained in Lee County Jail on $7,500 bond and is scheduled to appear in court on January 26, 2026.²
This case shows exactly why people need to speak up when they see or hear about child abuse.
That friend who received those videos could have looked the other way or convinced herself it wasn't her business.
Instead, she did the right thing and called the police immediately.
Her quick action likely saved that little girl from even worse abuse.
Florida has been cracking down hard on child abuse cases, especially when perpetrators are stupid enough to film themselves committing the crimes.
Law enforcement agencies across the state are seeing more cases where abusers document their own criminal behavior and send it to others.
These criminals think they're untouchable, that nobody will turn them in.
But as Happel found out the hard way, there are still people who will do the right thing when they see a child being hurt.
The fact that Happel filmed herself abusing her daughter while making death threats against the father shows a level of arrogance that's hard to comprehend.
She thought nothing would happen.
She thought she was in control.
Now she's sitting in jail waiting to face a judge, and her daughter is hopefully somewhere safe.
That's exactly how it should be.
¹ Colin Kalmbacher, "'Watch him f–ing burn to death': Florida mom filmed herself abusing and berating 'ugly a–' young daughter and threatening to set the child's dad on fire, police say," Law&Crime, December 31, 2025.
² Carson Zorn, "Woman arrested in Fort Myers, accused of child abuse, threatening to set father of child on fire," WFTX-TV, December 30, 2025.
