A Texas father is facing capital murder charges for allegedly fatally stabbing his 16-month-old son Sunday afternoon in his apartment’s courtyard.
According to The Dallas Morning News, neighbors watched in horror as a father slammed his son on the sidewalk and repeatedly stabbed him. The barbaric attack only stopped after a neighbor reportedly fired a gun from their second-floor apartment, wounding the father in the leg.
“He came down the steps right here and he had the baby in his arms and as he got 10 to 15 yards down he slammed him to the concrete,” resident James Ellis told KTVT.
“[The father] kneeled down, grabbed his knife, small knife, and started stabbing the little boy,” Ellis’ girlfriend, Jolyn Zapatos, recalled.
A witness told KDFW that the father screamed, “Jesus is coming” as he stabbed his son and instructed everyone to watch. Cellphone video shot by a neighbor apparently shows several officers handcuffing the father and taking him into custody.
“Look, they’re locking me away, mom,” he’s heard saying, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “I just want to see my mom, all right.”
While the Lewisville father isn’t being publicly identified at this time, the newspaper reported that the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office has identified the victim as Ashton Ness.
The father underwent surgery Monday afternoon and is expected to be transferred to jail on Tuesday, according to The Morning News.
Right now, he’s charged with capital murder and is being held on $1.5 million bond.
A local police captain told KDFW that this was one of the most horrific scenes he’s seen in his 20-year career. The station reported that first responders underwent immediate counseling as a result.
“For them to witness something like that, I feel for them, you know,” Captain Jesse Hunter said. “They had to endure the same thing the police and firefighters had to endure this afternoon to see that small baby get assaulted.”
[Featured image: Ashton Ness/GoFundMe]