Left: Howard Dewayne Walker Jr.”s mug shot. Right: Walker after his arrest for allegedly beating his girlfriend’s toddler daughter (Beaumont Police Department).
A Texas man is currently in custody following allegations that he severely assaulted his girlfriend’s one-year-old daughter, leaving her with life-threatening injuries. The incident occurred while the child’s mother was attending a medical appointment due to pregnancy-related discomfort.
The suspect, 28-year-old Howard Dewayne Walker Jr., has been charged with causing serious bodily harm to a child, according to the Beaumont Police Department. Authorities were called to a hospital around 1 p.m. on Tuesday after the young girl arrived in critical condition, showing signs that suggested child abuse. She was subsequently airlifted to a hospital in Houston for further treatment.
An arrest affidavit, shared by local CBS affiliate KFDM, revealed that the child was found to be intubated and unresponsive, suffering from severe facial swelling, bruising on her chest and abdomen, dried blood around her left ear, and multiple burn-like marks and healing cuts on her inner thighs and left arm.
The investigation uncovered that the child’s mother had left her daughter and another child in Walker’s care shortly before 10 a.m. to attend her appointment. Later, Walker sent a text message to his girlfriend regarding the situation, prompting her to send family members to the home to assess the situation.
The witnesses described a disturbing scene upon their arrival.
“They reported the child being mostly unresponsive, struggling for breath, and having a swollen eye along with dark bruises on her body,” the affidavit detailed. “Witnesses observed Walker using a frozen can of orange juice on the infant’s face and noted patterned bruising on her face, chest, and abdomen.”
When cops arrived, they noted the home smelled “strongly of bleach” and saw a mop and wet floors in an apparent attempt to clean up blood. Officers initially detained Walker on municipal warrants. Post-Miranda, he claimed he was not at home when the girl suffered the injuries, first blaming a babysitter and then his girlfriend.
Walker then admitted to being the lone adult with the girl when she suffered her injuries, cops wrote. He allegedly blamed the victim’s swelling on an “allergic reaction.” Walker offered no “plausible” explanations for the girl’s injuries.
Doctors later told detectives she had facial fractures, a liver laceration and active internal bleeding.
“The clinician advised the injuries were consistent with inflicted trauma requiring significant force, not accidental mechanisms or allergic reaction,” detectives wrote.
The girl was last listed in critical condition.
Walker is in the Jefferson County Correctional Facility on a $1 million bond.
