Man calls 911 to say a 4-year-old girl hurt herself falling off a toilet. Police say it was murder.
Apr. 27 2021, Published 9:15 a.m. ET
A North Carolina man called 911 to report a 4-year-old girl injured herself falling off a toilet and now authorities say he was responsible for her murder.
Raleigh police responded to the 911 call around 4:30 a.m. on April 25, authorities said.
"I think she fell asleep on the toilet. She hit her head," Milton Ray Horton told the 911 dispatcher, according to WRAL. "I went in the bathroom, and I got her, and she was bleeding a little bit – two gashes on her head."
After the fall, Horton said the little girl started hyperventilating, according to authorities.
The incident happened at the Candlewood Suites Raleigh Crabtree hotel, where the child's mother worked, according to WRAL. Horton was responsible for the child's care.
Police stated that Horton and the girl are not related.
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Horton told the dispatcher that he tried to stop the bleeding with ice and Vaseline, but he panicked when the girl had difficulty breathing. He tried to drive her to the hospital himself.
"I'm trying to transport her, trying to save her," Horton said, according to WRAL.
A dispatcher then told Horton that he shouldn't have left the hotel.
"I know. I’m in a panic, sir. I just want her to breathe," he said and the news station reported. "She has a low pulse. She is not responding. I’ve been giving her resuscitation for five minutes."
The child was taken to the hospital, where she died.
Milton Ray Horton Jr., 27 was charged with murder in connection with the girl’s death. It will be up to prosecutors to decide if they will seek the death penalty in the case.
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