MINNEAPOLIS - Investigators say a Minneapolis toddler faces life as a possible quadriplegic, or may need a permanent tracheotomy to breathe after an alleged assault by her mother's boyfriend.
Eric Paul Boone, age 22, is charged with first degree assault in the alleged attack.
Police were dispatched to the 2400 block of Logan Avenue North October 26 on a call of a child not breathing. When squads arrived they observed a 21-month-old female being attended to by first responders. Medical personnel had to manually breathe for the victim as she was unable to breathe on her own.
Officers were told that the child was being cared for by Boone, the mother's boyfriend.
When the toddler was examined under brighter lighting conditions paramedics observed that there were signs of swelling and bruising around the victim's eye, chin and around her neck. The victim was rushed to North Memorial Medical Center.
When questioned Boone told officers that he was sleeping with the victim and his girlfriend's newborn. He said that when he woke up the toddler wasn't breathing, and that he immediately ran upstairs and told others in the residence to call 911.
Three days later an investigator for Hennepin County Child Protection was told that Boone had thrown the victim violently on the bed out of anger after she squirmed out of his arms while he was walking down the stairs with her.
When re-interviewed by police Boone allegedly admitted that when he was walking downstairs with the 21-month-old she wiggled out of his arms and fell. The boyfriend told police he became angry and threw the child on the bed "like a sack of potatoes."
Medical specialists say the little girl suffered a cervical spinal cord injury, likely caused while being thrown on the bed or during an assault.
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