A 31-year-old man dangled a 4-year-old child from a second-floor balcony, police said. And dropped the child.
The Daytona Beach Police Department said in an affidavit that Brandon Gilmore had met his child’s mother just five hours before the incident at a Florida hotel resort on Saturday. Gilmore said he met the mother while they were drinking by the hotel pool and that she invited him back to her room.
“The child slid out of the car and struck his head directly on the concrete instead of the grass.”
Police say they obtained surveillance camera footage that showed Gilmore holding the child in a normal manner before stepping onto the balcony of the Sandals Inn.
The man allegedly told the mother he wanted to scare the child “a little bit” around 7:30 p.m.
Witnesses reported seeing the child fall to the ground.
“It seemed like he was just playing with the kids,” said Dasani Bentley, who witnessed the horrific incident, “and then he let go of the child and grabbed one of his legs, and the child slipped out of his hands and fell headfirst on the concrete, not on the grass.”
She said the child’s face began turning a bright purple color.
“He obviously wasn’t getting any oxygen. It wasn’t looking good,” Bentley added. Gilmore and the child’s mother ran downstairs to get to the child.
“Everyone was surrounding him, trying to make sure he was OK,” she continued. “People were yelling from the pool, telling people not to touch him.”
The mother picked up her son and took him to her room. He was then taken to Halifax Health Medical Centre, where police say he was diagnosed with blunt force trauma to the head. He is not expected to suffer any long-term health issues and was released from the hospital on Monday. according to Tim Ehrenkaufer, Daytona Beach Police Sgt.
“It’s just so devastating,” Bentley added. “If it was me, I don’t even know how I would react.”
According to a police affidavit, Gilmore admitted to police that he picked up the child from the balcony but did not say anything else.
Police said they reported the incident to the Department of Children and Families.
Gilmore is being held in Volusia County Jail without bail.
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