A Florida man who spent the day drinking with a woman he met at a Daytona Beach pool is accused of dangling her 4-year-old son from a second-floor balcony — and dropping the boy on his head, police said.
Brandon Gilmore, 31, met the unidentified boy’s mom poolside at the Sandlewood Beach Resort on Saturday, then spent the day drinking with her before taking her son outside the room to “scare him a little bit,” WESH-TV News reported.
“He was just like swinging in, playing with them,” eyewitness Dasanni Bentley told the outlet.
“And then he let him go, and he had him by one foot. And then the kids slipped right out of him and fell directly on his head on the concrete — no grass.”
Bentley said Gilmore and the boy’s mom — who only met five hours earlier at the hotel pool — dashed downstairs after the youngster hit the ground.
“His face started turning purple,” she said of the injured boy. “He obviously was getting no oxygen. It was not a good situation.”
The child was rushed to Halifax Health Medical Center, the Daytona Beach News-Journal said.
“The child is doing fine and has been discharged from the hospital and is not expected to have any long-term health issues as a result of this tragic event,” police told Fox News Digital on Tuesday.
Police said video surveillance footage captured Gilmore holding the boy in his arms before holding grabbing him by one leg and holding him over the balcony — before he fell to the ground.
Gilmore is facing aggravated child abuse charges and was still being held without bail at the Volusia County Jail as of Tuesday morning.
Somebody needs to take a sledgehammer to his head. The mother is obviously worthless and needs to lose custody of the boy.
Should be looking at mom too. I’m guessing she’s probably done this before, getting drunk with strangers and her child is there. As a mom I can’t imagine getting drunk and having to take care of my 5 year old. I think they should charge her with child endangerment. Both are a couple of losers.
I heard the mother wants to marry this guy now.
I know the guy is an idiot, but why is noone blaming this mother? Who the hell gets drunk with a stranger while your 4 year old is with you?
Even criminals hate those who abuse or kill children. Just let the general population of the jail he’s being held at know what he’s done. If we’re lucky, he won’t even live to stand trial..
Democrat Logic… Bad Guys kill people with Guns – Ban Guns. Bad Guys Kill Babies – Ban Babies!
Someone needs to end this guy for the good of all!