A teenage West Virginia dad faces child abuse charges after a grandmother showed police video of him aggressively throwing a 4-month-old baby down and holding his hand over the infant’s mouth.
Jeremiah Burkhammer, 19, was charged with child neglect creating risk of injury and strangulation, WDTV reported.
The video shows Burkhammer shortly before 2 a.m. on Thursday, telling the baby to go to sleep. The baby attempts to roll over, but Burkhammer picks the child up without supporting their head and puts the baby back down in an “aggressive manner causing the victim’s head/neck to rock back and forth violently,” according to court documents.
Minutes later, the baby rolls over and Burkhammer tells the child, “You’re p****** me the f*** off,” then picks the infant up and throws them down on a pillow.
Later, with the baby crying, Burkhammer yells, “Take the freaking bottle,” and slaps the child on the chest.
Then, to quiet the crying, Burkhammer is seen putting his hand over the baby’s mouth, telling the infant to “breath out your nose not your mouth,” as if a 4-month-old child can understand what he’s saying.
That incident lasted nearly 30 seconds as the baby’s muffled cries could be heard with arms and legs flailing.
The report did not say if the baby was checked out medically.
Burkhammer was given a $225,000 bond.
