A 10-month-old baby was left fighting for life after his mom’s fiancé allegedly bearhugged him after tossing him into the air.
Jordan Boggess was arrested on a felony child abuse charge after his partner’s toddler was left in critical condition following the incident in Newtonia, Missouri on September 14.
The Newton County Sheriff’s Office attended the child’s home around 8pm in response to a call about a baby not breathing. When first responders arrived on the scene, they found the baby unconscious but breathing, according to Law & Crime.
The baby was rushed to a nearby hospital and later transferred to a children’s hospital in Kansas City, Missouri two hours away, where medical professionals found bruises on his forehead and ear. A CT scan revealed the child had collapsed lungs and two brain bleeds.
Cops went back to the home to speak to 28-year-old Boggess, the mother’s fiancé. When they arrived, he was sleeping. Boggess reportedly told officials he was lying in bed and watching TV when the boy’s mother went to the bathroom on the day of the injury. Boggess said the child vomited and was screaming.
To comfort him, Boggess said he threw the child in the air. The second time he threw the baby up, he fell on his head, he claimed.
“Jordan then admitted after the child fell on the floor he panicked and ‘bear hugged’ the child ‘a little hard’ until he stopped screaming,” cops said in a probable cause affidavit obtained by the outlet. “Jordan was asked if it was tight and he said yes. Jordan admitted he might have hurt him when he squeezed him.”
Medical professionals determined the child had been the victim of “abusive head trauma” as well as physical abuse.
Boggess has been arrested on a felony child abuse charge and remains in the Newton County Jail without bond.
The baby was discharged on October 24 and is recovering at home with his mother, who has not been publicly identified. The child’s father told KY3, an NBC affiliate, that the child’s injuries are likely to have a lasting effect on his life.
“He basically took my son’s life. He took my son’s future. You don’t toss a baby into the air,” Tyler Burbridge told the outlet.
The Independent has contacted the state’s public defender’s office for comment.
