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Eli Warford, the 21-month-old son of Amber Warford, is recuperating from his injuries during alleged assaults earlier this week. Amber Warford's fiance, 23-year-old Jeremy Kelly, has been charged with two felony counts of second-degree assault after police say he threw and hit Eli on two separate occasions Monday and Tuesday while Amber was at work. (Courtesy Amber Warford / May 3, 2012) |
An Anchorage man has been charged with two felony counts of second-degree domestic-violence assault after allegedly throwing and hitting his fiancée’s 21-month-old son in two separate incidents this week.
Charging documents (PDF) claim Jeremy Kelly, 23, assaulted Eli Warford on Monday and Tuesday, while the toddler’s mother was at work and Kelly stayed home to care for him.
Amber Warford told detectives she received a Monday call from Kelly in which he claimed the child had fallen from a couch, hitting his head on the floor, and was acting clingy.
“She said that when she got home that night, Eli did not look right, and was acting lethargic and miserable,” officials wrote in the documents. “He went to bed that night after a bath, but did not sleep well.”
While Eli's mother was at work Tuesday, she received another call from Kelly, who said the child was vomiting. The vomiting continued when she returned home, so she took him to Providence Alaska Medical Center.
APD was subsequently called to Providence’s emergency room, where a pediatric specialist said the toddler had a skull fracture and a subdural hematoma -- a collection of blood on the surface of his brain.
“Warford described Kelly to have a temper and ‘anger management’ problem stating that he had slapped her on multiple occasions,” officials wrote. “She described Kelly as the ‘disciplinarian’ and described that they have disagreed over what she believed to be harsh parenting techniques.”
During an interview with Kelly, in which he was informed of his Miranda rights -- including the right to remain silent -- he allegedly told detectives that the toddler had fallen off the couch and slipped in the bathtub. Later, however, Kelly admitted that he had thrown the boy to the floor in frustration and anger Monday and Tuesday, after the child threw toys and started to cry.
Kelly said he had punched the child in the chest three times after throwing him Monday to make him resume breathing, which caused him to recuperate but also start vomiting.
“He stated that on both occasions he did not meant to hurt Eli, but he thought he might have killed him as he had stopped breathing,” officials wrote. “He admitted that he used too much force to throw and hit Eli.”
Kelly denied any other instances similar to the two on Monday on Tuesday, but admitted to spanking the child hard enough to bruise the buttocks. The child had numerous other suspicious bruises.
“After his confession, Kelly told detectives that he was going to go far away or overseas where the police would never find him,” officials wrote. “He also said that people had taken their lives for less things than he had done.”
Kelly’s statements prompted police to ask for more details.
“Detectives clarified what he meant by these comments, specifically asking if he planned on hurting himself,” the document continued. “Kelly told the detectives to ‘guess.’ When asked about his plans for flight, Kelly said that it would be easy to hide, and he was a ‘magician.’”
Amber Warford told Channel 2 Thursday that Eli was recovering from his injuries, which did not require surgery.
Editor’s note: Amber and Eli Warford's names were initially omitted from this story, but have been added after Channel 2 received permission from Amber Warford.
Email Christine Kim
