Connecticut
6-year-old dies after stepfather beat him with a baseball bat in Bridgeport
A 6-year-old died after his stepfather beat him with a baseball bat in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
The child died Wednesday after being on life support from his injuries that left him “brain dead,” according to NBC affiliate, KTUU.
His stepfather, 38-year-old Abdulrahim Sulaiman, was charged with murder after being accused of taking a baseball bat and beating his wife, the 6-year-old boy, and his 4-year-old brother, according to NBC affiliate, KTUU.
The little boy’s 33-year-old mother and the 4-year-old brother survived but were treated at the hospital where they were upgraded from critical to stable condition.
The investigation started when officers responded to a home in Bridgeport at around 10 a.m. after reports of a man severely beating a woman and her children.
One of those calls was from the mother herself, who begged police for help and said Sulaiman was hitting her and her children with a bat, according to the affidavit.
The first officer at the scene saw Sulaiman walking toward him, with blood on his hands and arms, and muttering to himself, according to court records. And a witness pointed to the suspect and told the officer not to let Sulaiman get away.
A man who is accused of brutally beating a family member and her two young children with a baseball bat in Bridgeport on Wednesday morning appeared in court on Thursday and his bond has been set at $10 million.
Other officers found the mother and children in an apartment where they sought refuge.
The 6-year-old was unresponsive, according to the affidavit.
All three victims were initially taken to a local hospital, then the two children were flown to the pediatric emergency center at Yale New Haven Hospital.
When police spoke to the children’s mother, she told them that Sulaiman had been smoking angel dust and he had beaten her in the past.
She also told officers that he had threatened her with a gun and threatened to kill her and her children, according to the court records.
During their investigation, police watched video from the area and said it showed a baseball bat coming out an apartment window around 9:58 a.m., then Sulaiman jumping out a window and landing in a large trash bin.
Sulaiman’s next court date is set for Oct. 10. It will be held in Part A, which is a court for more severe crimes.
Sulaiman is being held on a $10,000,000 bond and has been placed on suicide watch.