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Suspect Found Hugging Badly Beaten Toddler

19-Month-Old Boy Punched, Shaken, Bitten, Police Say

POSTED: 10:53 pm EDT October 28, 2008
UPDATED: 8:39 am EDT October 30, 2008

A 19-month-old boy was put on life support Tuesday night after being punched, shaken and bitten, state police in Indiana County said.

Police said Leonard Mcintire was beaten Monday at a home on Main Street in Burrell Township. The child suffered massive head trauma and several internal injuries and has had surgery at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, police said. The boy is listed in critical condition.

Joshua Turner, 19, was charged with aggravated assault. He remains in custody at the Indiana County Jail.

The child's mother, 20-year-old Kimberly Shirley, told WTAE Channel 4's Marcie Cipriani that she wasn't home when the injuries happened. When Shirley found the boy, he was unconscious and being hugged by Turner, she said.

"He has a broken arm, he has lots of bruises, he has a couple bite marks," Shirley said.

Police said the 19-month-old is called L.J. by his family.

"He had surgery on his head. They had to remove a part of his skull. He still has lots of swelling, lots of bleeding in his brain," said Shirley.

Police said Turner, who they said is Shirley's boyfriend, attacked the toddler inside Shirley's home when she wasn't there.

"I was at the welfare office. I was at the Salvation Army. We went to pick up my older son from his supervised visit from his dad," Shirley said.

"Whenever I got back I found the baby unconscious. He was at first laying on the loveseat," said Shirley.

Shirley says she called 911, then looked toward Turner.

"He started crying and that, like, it was an accident," Shirley said.

At first, Shirley said Turner told her he picked L.J. up from his highchair and he hit his face on a door. But police said Turner later told them that he became upset and angry with the toddler, punching him in the chest, biting him and shaking him.

"The only thing I want to find out is why," Shirley said.

Shirley said the boyfriend she's been with for a few months seemed to be bonding with her son.

"He was always right there, watching out for him. Playing with him," Shirley said.

Although doctors have told her L.J. may not survive, Shirley is hopeful.

She told Cipriani she can't visit her son without being supervised.


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