A Holiday man is accused of wadding up a baby wipe and stuffing it down the throat of a 5-month-old child, nearly choking it to death, Tarpon Springs police said.
Michael Hurley, 32, is charged with attempted first-degree murder.
According to an affidavit, Hurley said he was alone with the child and said he was wiping the baby's mouth with the wipe. He said he didn't know how the wipe got in the child's mouth or lodged in the throat.
The child's mother came home and found the baby choking. She took the child outside and screamed for help. Neighbors came to help, at which point Hurley said the child was choking on a wipe, the affidavit said.
The mother was able to get the wipe while the neighbors held the child upside down.
The baby was taken to a local hospital, where the child is in critical condition and on life support. The mother told investigators that the child had developmental delays dues to complications at childbirth.
Investigators found the wadded-up wipe, which was soaked in blood. The inside, however, had areas that had no blood, indicating it was wadded up before it went in the child's throat.
When questioned, detectives said Hurley told them he "knows this looks bad" and told them it was a "freak accident."
Bail was set at $500,000.
