The 37-year-old Cleveland woman has been inside the legal center many times over the years as a repeat drug offender.
"You've been involved in the criminal justice system at least five times," Judge Daniel Gaul pointed out. "You've been indicted in Cuyahoga County alone at least five times."
According to court records, Tonya Edwards has had nine children with six different fathers. Each baby removed by Cuyahoga County Children's Services.
"You're not a fit mother," said Judge Gaul. "You lost custody of all your other kids."
Last July Edwards sliced off the top part of her 10-month-old son's ear with a kitchen knife. She was arguing with the child's father at the time.
"We got into a fight. Allright?" Edwards admitted. "I slashed his ear."
Assistant County Prosecutor Pinkey Carr told Channel 3's Mike O'Mara that the baby boy "will have a deformity. He's actually missing that piece of his ear. Even though they did surgery, that part of his ear is forever gone".
The child's father told the court he supported a prison term for Edwards.
"On behalf of me and my son, I defer to this court from two years to four years," said Micah Belcher. "I'm OK with the sentence."
Tonya Edwards will now spend the next four years in prison.
But now the director of Cuyahoga County Social Services is worried about what might happen if she has another baby after her prison term.
"The community, the hospital, or a relative or someone who knows needs to call us," James McCafferty said. "Because there are just some people who shouldn't have children."
According to Gaul, Edwards is now at the top of the list of worst mothers in Cleveland.
WKYC-TV