5-year-old child beaten, suffers traumatic brain injury

CARBONDALE, LACKAWANNA CO. (WOLF) — UPDATE 12/8/2023: The 5-year-old child has passed away from his injuries, police said. Read the update here.

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ORIGINAL

A man is accused of beating a five-year-old child, who suffered a traumatic brain injury, according to police.

On Dec. 2, EMS received a call for a report in Carbondale of a five-year-old male having difficulty breathing. The child was taken to the hospital for treatment, and police were contacted.

Carbondale police learned that the child was being taken for emergency surgery for a subdural hematoma to relieve pressure from the brain, and would be life flighted to Geisinger in Danville, according to an affidavit.

Authorities spoke to the mother of the child, who explained that her son had been experiencing "crying fits" where he would stop breathing when upset or not getting his way, police said. The mother took the advice from a doctor to record the fits. Police said that the mother provided a video recording of that day, which showed the child appearing to have a seizure.

When the mother was asked about her home, she said she lived with her son, two more kids and her boyfriend. Police said the mother did not want to give them her boyfriend's name.

The mother explained that during dinner, the child was not eating, and was instructed to clean and make his bed. That's when the mother's boyfriend, then identified as Devon Boone of Carbondale, carried the child out, claiming he was having another episode.

The mother described her child as "lifeless" and they tried to revive him with ice and cold compresses, which did not work, according to police.

When asked if they knew what had happened to the child, one of the other children reportedly told police that they thought the child and Boone were "play fighting."

When he was questioned, Boone also said he and the child were "play fighting" before he called an ambulance.

Nurses at the hospital taking care of the child told police that he had undergone a craniotomy, and that he had suffered a cerebral edema with midline shift, or swelling to the brain, according to an affidavit. The child also had a temporal bone fracture and bruising to the left chest and left eye.

As of Dec. 3, the child was in "very critical condition" and was intubated. On Tuesday, police said they were informed the child's condition had worsened and needed an emergency procedure. A portion of the child's brain had to be removed due to the tissue being necrotic, and the child was placed in a medically-induced coma.

Police were later told by the children that on Saturday, Dec. 2, Boone began to "play fight" with the kids and hit them, even saying "Round 1, who am I going to beat up next?"

The affidavit states that Boone continued to beat the children, and at one point the 5-year-old child did not get up.

As of Tuesday morning, the child was taken out of a medically-induced coma and was showing no brain activity. Medical documents described the child as suffering "non-accidental trauma."

Boone was arraigned Tuesday night on charges of aggravated assault and child endangerment. He is lodged in the Lackawanna County Prison for lack of $500,000 bail.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 20.

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