The father of a murdered 5-year-old girl was hauled out of a Washington court Monday after he reportedly lunged at his daughter’s accused killer.
Ryan Burge, 37, is accused of causing severe head trauma that eventually killed his girlfriend’s daughter, Hartley Anderson, on Friday while her mother worked and her siblings were at school. Though Burge initially told police that Anderson inflicted the fatal injuries on herself during a tantrum, medical staff determined the head trauma wasn’t self-inflicted, according to KATU.
A prosecutor described the attack against the little girl as “very violent,” revealing sheetrock damaged and walls banged in at the apartment where the incident took place, according to KREM.
Burge walked into court for a hearing on Monday with a suicide vest on during his first appearance.
During the brief court hearing, an already-tense scene turned chaotic as Hartley’s father reportedly tried to get to Burge, but deputies intercepted him and led him out the courtroom.
The news station reported that Burge is a convicted felon who spent six years in prison for lighting his duplex on fire in an attempt to receive insurance money. Relatives of the victim’s mother said she was unaware of her boyfriend’s criminal past.
Burge is being held on $5 million bail. He’s scheduled to be arraigned on Thursday.
[Featured Image: Hartley Anderson/GoFundMe]
