A 1-year-old boy remains in a medically-induced coma weeks after being beaten nearly to death by his mother’s boyfriend.
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The boy, named Kybrel, was admitted to the hospital on Nov. 23 after his mother left him with her boyfriend, 24-year-old Lyndon Henderson, while she went to work. Authorities found the baby unresponsive in her Pittsburgh apartment when she returned home, according to a criminal complaint obtained by local news outlet WTAE.
The mother has remained unnamed throughout the legal process. Following his initial arrest, Henderson claimed that Kybrel had fallen off the couch. He said the 1-year-old boy later recovered and was smiling.
However, in the same complaint, the doctor who examined Kybrel told authorities that the baby’s injuries were “100% unequivocally the result of child abuse.”
Lyndon Henderson Was Initially Charged With Assault But Those Charges Have Since Been Upgraded to Attempted Homicide
Kybrel suffered a traumatic brain injury, a stroke and broken neck vertebra as a result of the assault. After being admitted to the hospital, he was placed on a ventilator because his brain was deprived of oxygen and swelling. He has also been placed on a feeding tube due to the medically induced coma, per local outlet WPXI.
Speaking to WPXI after visiting her grandson in the hospital,
After visiting Kybrel in the hospital, the baby’s paternal grandmother, Carla Darrell, told WPXI, “He was beat like a man. A man beat my grandson.”
“There was nothing possible he could’ve [done] to do this to him,” she continued, protesting her grandson’s obvious innocence while relaying that the baby was “on all kinds of machines.”
“It wasn’t good,” she said. “He didn’t do [anything].”
The 1-Year-Old Victim Is Currently on a Ventilator and a Feeding Tube
Henderson was initially charged with assault. However, those charges have since been upgraded to attempted homicide, Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh told WPXI.
“My office will always seek justice for victims,” Walsh told the outlet in a statement. “Children are innocent and our most vulnerable, and I will prosecute offenders who commit crimes against them vigorously and to the fullest extent the law allows.”