On March 4, officers with the Fairmont Police Department responded to a call of an unresponsive boy who was “not breathing,” according to a criminal complaint.
Upon arrival, EMS workers began rendering aid to the boy, but had to transport him to WVU Medicine Fairmont for treatment, officers said.
When the child arrived, “it was discovered that the juvenile had received several recent blunt force injuries to various parts of his body,” which included “bruising to the arms, bruising to the right hip, broken and missing teeth, and a shoe print shaped bruise to the right shoulder,” according to the complaint.
With the extensive injuries, he was transported to Ruby Memorial Hospital, where “it was discovered that there were other severe internal injuries,” which resulted in the child needing “to be intubated,” officers said.
When officers spoke to the attending physician, they learned that the boy “was not responsive to light, touch, or other stimuli” and had “little to no apparent brain activity” resulting in the boy being “placed on a ventilator to sustain life,” according to the complaint.
As a result, Walter Richardson, 33, of Fairmont, was placed under arrest for the abuse the boy suffered due to the boy being “in the complete care, custody, and control” of Richardson when the incident occurred, officers said.
Richardson has been charged with child abuse resulting in serious injury, malicious wounding and receiving/transferring stolen goods. He is being held in North Central Regional Jail, with bail set at $500,012.
UPDATE: Marion County man now charged with first-degree murder in child abuse incident after 4-year-old boy dies
Walter Richardson UPDATE (3/9/2021 2:57 p.m.): FAIRMONT, W.Va. — The Fairmont Police Department has released more information about an incident which left a 4-year-old boy dead as a result of abuse…
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