Volusia County Branch Jail
The 31-year-old man -- who'd only met the mother hours before -- was charged with aggravated child abuse after telling her he wanted to "scare him a little bit," while a witness said the boy "fell directly on his head on the concrete, no grass."
A Florida man has been accused of dropping a 4-year-old boy off a hotel balcony in Daytona Beach.
On Saturday, Brandon Gilmore, 31, allegedly dangled the child by one of his legs over the second-story balcony of Sandals Inn, before he dropped him onto the concrete head first, according to local NBC affiliate WESH, citing Daytona Beach Police Department records, which obtained surveillance footage.
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View StoryAccording to police, Gilmore told authorities that he had met the 4-year-old and his mother about five hours before the incident. He claimed that he told the mother he was taking her son outside of the room to play and "scare him a bit."
"[Gilmore] then went outside of the hotel room and proceeded to hold (the boy) by both of his legs, holding him directly over the second-floor balcony," police wrote in the report, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal.
Authorities also said, per the outlet, that a friend of the woman and her child, who was staying in the same room, told police Gilmore met the boy and his mother at the hotel's pool, where they had been drinking, before the woman invited Gilmore to their room.
Police said witnesses reported seeing the incident happen, claiming they saw Gilmore dangle the 4-year-old by his feet over the balcony, before dropping the boy, who fell two stories.
Authorities also wrote in the affidavit that the Department of Children and Families reported the incident.
Dasanni Bentley, a witness, spoke with WESH and described the incident as "absolutely devastating."
"He was just like swinging in, playing with them. And then he let him go, and he had him by one foot," she recalled. "And then the kid slipped right out of him and fell directly on his head on the concrete, no grass."
"His face started turning bright purple," Bentley added. "He obviously was getting no oxygen. It was just not a good situation."
She said she saw the boy's mother run downstairs.
"They were just all down like all around him, trying to make sure he was OK," Bentley said. "People were screaming from the pool, like to not touch him."
According to Daytona Beach Police Sgt. Tim Ehrenkaufer, per the News-Journal, the child was rushed to Halifax Health Medical Center as a trauma alert. The outlet said the boy was discharged from the hospital on Monday, and is not expected to have any long-term medical issues as a result of the fall.
Gilmore, meanwhile, was charged with aggravated child abuse, and is being held at the Volusia County Jail on no bond, according to jail records. He was still behind bars as of Monday, according to the News-Journal.
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