A Pennsylvania father was arrested for allegedly stabbing his 3-month-old child and throwing him into the snow outside their home in a western suburb of Philadelphia, officials said Wednesday.
The Coatesville Police Department responded to an apartment in the 2000 block of Smithbridge Drive around 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, after receiving reports of the stabbing of an infant.
Officers arrived and found a 3-month-old boy who had been stabbed in the abdomen. The child was in “very serious condition” and was airlifted to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, according to an arrest report.
After the stabbing, Michael Phillips, 44, the boy’s father, allegedly “took the infant outside and threw him in the snow,” police said.
Phillips was arrested and charged with attempted murder, aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of a child and other crimes, online court records show.
The infant underwent surgery and was listed as in “critical but stable condition,” the Chester County District Attorney’s Office said in a 6:30 p.m. update.
Neighbors said Phillips lived in the apartment with a partner and at least one other child.
He was also described as a “quiet, nice guy” who would always smile and greet his neighbors.
“I was shocked when I came back home and saw all the police here,” one neighbor, Robert Boyd, told NBC Philadelphia. “I was talking to him for five minutes this morning and didn’t detect anything like that or anything going on with him.”
