Crime & Safety
Man Lacerated 2-Year-Old’s Liver, Police Say
Hazelwood Police said the child also had facial bruises and an injury to the back of his head.
A man faces criminal charges after Hazelwood Police said he seriously injured a 2-year-old in his care by lacerating the child’s liver.
Joshua Riley, 26, of the 1500 block of Nesbit in Ferguson, was charged Aug. 28 with second-degree assault and endangering a child.
said the child suffered a linear laceration through nearly his entire liver, bruises on his face, and an injury to the back of his scalp.
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A witness told Hazelwood Police that Riley ran out of his room March 20 at the in holding the child, who was unresponsive. The witness said Riley told him not to call an ambulance.
The witness took the child from Riley and called for help. Police said two other children in the room told the witness that Riley whooped the 2-year-old and hit his head on the wall, adding that the boy cries a lot.
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The witness told police that while waiting on the ambulance, Riley told him that he and his brother used to box and that the child would be OK.
Bond for Riley was set at $100,000.
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