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Toddler Dies After Being Punched In The Face In Bronzeville

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A toddler was killed Tuesday afternoon, when a man punched him several times in the face in the Bronzeville neighborhood.

Police said the man struck an approximately 23-month-old boy multiple times around 12:10 p.m. at a home on the 4200 block of South Calumet Avenue.

The victim was taken to Comer Children's Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Police said the attack was a "domestic situation," and the man who punched the toddler has a history of mental illness. The man was taken into custody at the scene.

Area One detectives are investigating.

The toddler's death comes amid a recent space of child murders in Chicago. Since mid-June, four children under the age of 10 have lost their lives to gun violence.

  • On July 4th, 7-year-old Natalia Wallace was shot in the head while playing in her grandmother's front yard in the South Austin neighborhood. Police and prosecutors say a group of gunmen opened fire on the 100 block of North Latrobe Avenue, in apparent retaliation for an earlier shooting that killed a brother of one of the shooters. The accused getaway driver is being held without bail on charges of first-degree murder and aggravated battery. Police are looking for the three shooters.
  • On June 28th, 10-year-old Lena Nunez was killed when a stray bullet pierced the window of an apartment in Logan Square, as a group of men apparently was shooting at someone else on the street outside.
  • On June 27th, 1-year-old Sincere Gaston was shot and killed while riding home from the laundromat with his mother in Englewood. His mother was also grazed by a bullet. Police have said the shooter may have been targeting Sincere's father, who was not in the car.
  • On June 20th, 3-year-old Mekhi James was shot in the back while riding in his stepfather's SUV on the 600 block of North Central Avenue. He was taken to the hospital in serious condition, but later was pronounced dead. Police have said the shooter was targeting the 27-year-old stepfather.

 

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