Krysten Happel (Lee County Sheriff's Office).
A Florida woman is behind bars after abusing her daughter and threatening to set the girl's father on fire, Sunshine State police say.
Krysten Ann Happel, 36, stands accused of one count of cruelty toward a child – child abuse without great bodily harm, according to Lee County Sheriff's Office records. The defendant is also charged on an out-of-state warrant as a fugitive from justice in Georgia.
The underlying incident occurred on Christmas Day in Fort Myers, according to a probable cause statement obtained by Law&Crime.
That day, Happel sent several "disturbing" text messages and videos to a friend that involved the defendant's young daughter, according to the Fort Myers Police Department.
"Happel sent disturbing messages, one including video of her verbally and physically assaulting [redacted]," the charging document reads.
The subject matter, however, appeared to be the little girl's father, whom the defendant repeatedly referred to in her messages as "f–boy."
In one message, the defendant allegedly wrote:
Im gonna go and set [him] on fire and watch him f–ing burn to death f– ass, motherf–er piece of s– and how the f– do I even f–boys have his back anyone wanna help me out cause I aint gonna be satisfied till i f–ing kill him with my bare hands and spend the rest of my life in prison ha ha ha ha ha.
One video shows Happel "repeatedly battering" her daughter's head by "forcefully tapping and nudging it," according to the statement.
While law enforcement censored nearly all of the victim's information, the charging document alludes to an extremely young age by noting: "With [redacted] being so young, her cranial bones are extremely vulnerable to injury, along with her brain."
Additionally, the video showed the defendant "throwing a blanket over [the girl's] entire face," which police claim could have endangered her breathing.
Happel also allegedly berated the child on video, police said.
"Get your ugly a— out of here," the defendant allegedly said during the incident involving the blanket.
Then the alleged abuse continued.
"This followed with Happel stating, 'someone come get this demonized child that came from f–boy' and more words like such followed behind," the charging document goes on. "While stating such, the video showed Happel continuously battering [the girl] by forcefully tapping and nudging her head."
The probable cause statement spends significant time explaining the relationship between the friend who received the messages and the defendant. The friend, who called police asking for a wellness check on the child, met Happel through her husband.
The friend and her husband had offered to help Happel retain custody of the girl by providing the mother and daughter with housing, law enforcement said. But, over time, Happel received assistance through the Salvation Army and the defendant did not need the other woman's help anymore, according to the charging document.
Police later found both Happel and the girl at a Salvation Army branch. There, the mother was arrested while the girl was discovered "soaked in her own urine as if it had been hours since she had her diaper changed last," according to the statement.
During a custodial interview, after being Mirandized, the defendant was allegedly talkative about the videos and messages.
"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 continues. "Happel also took credit for the text messages that were sent along with the video."
The defendant is currently detained in the Lee County Jail on $7,500 bond. She is slated to appear in court on Jan. 26, 2026.