Mo. Police Officers Revive 4-Year-Old Boy Choked by Suspect

Police officers applied resuscitative measures to save the life of a 4-year-old boy they were forced to pry from the grasp of a man who purportedly was choking him during a domestic disturbance this week in Webb City.

Malachi M. Bain, 28, is being held without bond in the wake of an incident late Monday night at the residence of the suspect, his girlfriend and her son on Ellis Street in Webb City.

Bain is slated to be arraigned Friday in Jasper County Circuit Court on counts of first-degree assault and second-degree domestic assault.

A probable-cause affidavit filed in the case states that officers responding to a call at 10:48 p.m. from a neighbor reporting a woman screaming about someone hurting her son were met by Bain's distraught girlfriend who had come out of their house bleeding profusely from her mouth. She told them that Bain was choking her son, and a male witness warned them that the suspect was armed with a knife.

Officers who made entry through a side door came upon a large amount of blood in the living room of the residence near a hallway and a knife on the floor, according to the affidavit. There was more blood on the walls and the floor all the length of the hallway leading to a bedroom, where they spotted Bain on top of the boy and applying a headlock to his throat.

The boy and his attacker were covered in blood, according to the affidavit.

The boy appeared "limp and lifeless" as officers pulled him away from Bain's grasp. He had defecated on the floor, his face had turned purple and he was "neither conscious or breathing," according to the affidavit.

One of the officers began cardiopulmonary resuscitation until the child gurgled and resumed breathing shortly before firefighters and emergency medical technicians arrived on the scene and took over medical care of the victims. The boy had a large laceration on his neck, according to the affidavit.

His mother told police that they were all at home together when Bain began staring at her and then suddenly put her son in a headlock. She said she punched him to get him to stop and turned and began choking her and the boy at the same time.

Webb City police Chief Don Melton said Thursday that the boy was able to speak with paramedics and police after being revived and does not appear to have suffered any long-term medical consequences of the assault.

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