Police: 3-Year-Old Suffers Broken Arm, Significant Injuries In Assault; Suspect Arrested
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STOWE TOWNSHIP (KDKA) -- A man accused of assaulting a 3-year-old child was taken into custody Thursday night.
According to a criminal complaint, detectives were sent to Children's Hospital on Thursday for a report that a 3-year-old boy had been severely beaten.
The child's mother, Janet Zigler, told police that her ex-boyfriend, Jerrard Ronn Littlejohn, of Munhall, had been staying at her house since Monday because she recently found out she was pregnant with his child.
Zigler says she was gone between 6:45 a.m. and 5:15 p.m. Wednesday and when she got home, her 3-year-old son was sleeping. He later woke up and played for a while, then went to bed. The boy came into Zigler's room around 2 a.m. and was restless all night.
Zigler told police when they got up in the morning, she noticed her son was limping and injured and he began crying and asked her not to leave him.
When Zigler went downstairs, Littlejohn admitted that he had hit the 3-year-old. She says she told Littlejohn to leave, but he did not.
The boy told Zigler that Littlejohn punched him repeatedly and beat him with a belt, then said not to tell anyone because they were best friends.
The criminal complaint says Littlejohn has been arrested for assaulting Zigler in the past, and she didn't immediately call anyone for help because Littlejohn seemed agitated. Zigler eventually offered him money to get cigarettes, then called her sister-in-law and the police after he left.
The 3-year-old victim was taken to the hospital by ambulance. A doctor told detectives the boy had multiple internal injuries, severe bruising and a broken arm.
In a Facebook conversation with KDKA-TV's Paul Martino, Zigler said her son "needs to rest and heal," but he is OK.
Littlejohn was subsequently charged with criminal attempted homicide, aggravated assault, and several other charges.
West Homestead Police officers took Littlejohn into custody Thursday evening.
