Document: Father beat toddler with a comb as punishment, ‘violently’ shook girl
The man accused of beating his 1-year-old daughter while he taught her how to walk allegedly admitted to detectives he beat and “violently” shook the child, a criminal complaint obtained by ABC-7 states.
On August 17, 2018, 27-year-old Anthony Williams was charged with “Injury to a Child”‘ and booked into the El Paso County Detention Facility under a $750,000 bond. On Wednesday, August 22, 2018, police charged Williams with two additional counts of “Injury to a Child” and a single count of “Abandoning or Endangering a Child.”
Police responded to a family violence call at 12261 Tierra Canada on August 17, 2018 at about 11:30 a.m. Police said a 1-year-old girl was “found severely injured” and two other children at the residence “had signs of physical abuse.”
Crimes Against Children and Child Protective Services conducted a joint investigation, which resulted in the arrest of Williams and his wife, 24-year-old Jessica Garcia. Police charged Garcia with three counts of “Injury to a Child” and a single count of “Abandoning or Endangering a Child.” She was jailed on a $400,000 bond.
The criminal complaint affidavit filed for Williams states the man told detectives he was teaching his 1-year-old daughter how to walk, but the child kept going “limp and falling.” Williams allegedly told investigators, that as a form of discipline, he hit the child with a comb all over her body.
Further, the document states Williams allegedly told police he “smacked” the girl on her head with his hand, “grabbed her thighs with force, squeezed her and embedded his fingernails into her skin.”
Williams allegedly said he picked up the girl and violently shook her. After he placed the child on her chair, the girl “collapsed with her eyes open, became limp and stopped moving,” police said.
Wednesday, police the girl remained hospitalized in critical, but stable condition.
