Ink addict mom arrested for giving her 11-year-old daughter a heart-shaped tattoo

One North Carolina girl has her heart on her sleeve and she's got her mother to thank.



Inked-up mother Odessa Clay, 30, was arrested in September for tattooing her 11-year-old daughter last year.



She told police that her daughter had requested a heart above her right shoulder and she didn't know it was illegal to grant her wish.



Parental: Inked-up mother Odessa Clay, 30, was arrested in September for tattooing her 11-year-old daughter last year

Havelock Police charged Clay in late September with tattooing a person under the age of 18, WCTI12 reports.

The mother, who has more than a few of her own tattoos, posed for her mugshot in a white, sleeveless shirt showing off her ink on both arms.

She tattooed the girl sometime last year, police said.

'She asked me to do it,' the mother-of-the-year told the newstation.



Unapologetic, Clay said she used her own tools and numbed her daughter's arm before the permanent decoration.



Guidance: Clay told police that her daughter had requested a heart above her right shoulder and she didn't know it was illegal to grant her wish

'I didn't fill it in,' she said, describing the small outline on her pre-teen's body.



She said that she thought tattoos, like ear-piercing, were legal as long as the parent gave consent.



The heavily tattooed mother said that she believes her ex in-law reported the tattoo to retaliate against her for filing a complaint against her daughter's paternal grandfather, the newstation reports.



Clay is due in court next month for the charge.



Her previous run-ins with the law include charges of larceny, possession of drug paraphernalia and possession of stolen goods.