“Baby Critically Ill After Boyfriend’s ‘Bear Hug’ Attack”

Infant in Critical Condition

A nine-month-old baby in Mis­souri is cur­rent­ly in crit­i­cal con­di­tion at a chil­dren’s hos­pi­tal after he was alleged­ly abused by his moth­er’s boyfriend. 

The infant, named Way­lon, was found not breath­ing and aspi­rat­ing while asleep, which inves­ti­ga­tors have deter­mined was the result of child abuse by 28-year-old Jor­dan Boggess.

Alleged Abuse Incident

Accord­ing to the report, on Sep­tem­ber 14th, Way­lon was placed in a baby jumper while his moth­er went to the bath­room. Boggess then tossed the child into the air, failed to catch him on the sec­ond toss, and the infant fell to the ground. Boggess then alleged­ly “bear-hugged” the child until he stopped crying.

Severe Injuries and Prognosis

Way­lon was rushed to the hos­pi­tal with a brain bleed, bruis­ing on his head, and oth­er injuries con­sis­tent with abuse. Med­ical staff told author­i­ties the child had “abu­sive head trau­ma” and his con­di­tion is crit­i­cal. His fam­i­ly has been informed that he may be wheel­chair-bound, unable to talk or feed him­self if he survives.

Outrage from Family

Way­lon’s cousin, Jaden Bran­ham, expressed out­rage over the inci­dent, say­ing “These are chil­dren, and they deserve to live nor­mal, care­free lives, not hav­ing to wor­ry about being scared of who they’re with.” The child’s grand­fa­ther, Tyler Bur­bridge, also said, “This is the hard­est fight that I’ve ever, I’ve ever had to do.”

Investigation and Custody Battle

Boggess is now under inves­ti­ga­tion for child abuse, while Way­lon’s moth­er has since left the rela­tion­ship and says she had no knowl­edge of the abuse. Way­lon’s fam­i­ly has set up a GoFundMe to help the child’s father gain sole cus­tody as the inves­ti­ga­tion continues.