A Washington state mother could be looking at some serious criminal offenses after a video surfaced, which shows her cheering on her four-year-old son as he was thrown off a 27-foot railroad bridge into the Wynoochee River.
The incident was captured on film by local teenagers Kaylub Fawley and Brianna Jones, who were down at the river when all of a sudden they looked up and saw a man hanging the young child off the side of the bridge.
During an interview with the Washington Post, Fawley said:
“I looked up and was like, ‘Whoa, there’s a kid up there’ — I immediately started recording.
It was here that the man, who later was found to be the boyfriend of the child’s mother, threw the child into the river.
“This guy just threw the kid right off the bridge, and he smacked down right on his neck.”
“As soon as that kid hit the water, he went straight down and straight back up. “He was just screaming the whole time.”
According to Fawley, the boy’s mother was in the river below the bridge, cheering on her son as he plummeted into the water while screaming.
Jones reported that the boy was just inches from hitting his head on one of the beams while on the way down.
Immediately after seeing this, Fawley, Jones and others who were at the lake started yelling at the mother and quickly called the police on her.
Jones told the Post:
“As soon as the screaming child surfaced, she said, his mother “was trying to make it seem like the whole incident was fun.”
“We all started freaking out and yelling at her, ‘You can’t do that!” Jones stated. “She said, ‘He’s my kid, and it’s none of your business.’”
“You just don’t throw a kid off a bridge!” Jones added. “It made me so mad. … People like that shouldn’t have children.”
Just fifteen minutes after the incident occurred, the police showed up, which was when Fawley showed them the video.
“The police officer watched it several times, and he was pretty upset,” Fawley said, noting that the boy was treated in an ambulance and later released. “I kept asking if the little boy was all right, and the cop said he was fine, but he was shaken up pretty bad.”
Since the video has been under review, Steve Shumate, a spokesman for the Grays Harbor County Sheriff’s Office, told The Post that the woman should face “reckless endangerment and criminal trespassing charges, which are both misdemeanors:”
“I’m waiting for the rest of the police reports to come in. I spoke with the county prosecutor, and they’re going to determine whether felony charges are going to be filed.”
Fawley has since posted the video to his Facebook, stating that he hopes people understand the significance of child endangerment:
“I hope that mother gets what’s coming to her. I just want that child to be safe.”
As for what will happen to the mother and boyfriend, the investigation is still underway.