The Massachusetts Department of Children and Families is investigating after a 3-year-old was injured, allegedly at the hand of his uncle, Thursday afternoon in Worcester.
Police replied to an apartment at Lincoln Village on Country Club Boulevard after 21-year-old Taj McDonald called police and said he had just killed his 3-year-old nephew.
When officers arrived, they found the boy conscious and alert, but suffering from injuries to his face and neck.
Authorities determined McDonald was watching the child when his father was at work. Officers were told that he assaulted the victim multiple times.
McDonald was charged with attempted murder, reckless endangerment of a child, indecent assault and battery on a child, assault and battery on a family member, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and strangulation. The DCF was called in, as well.
One man, who didn't want to be identified, told necn he was painting nearby when he heard the child crying.
"It sounded like he was screaming but crying sometimes," the man said. "I don't know if he was in pain."
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"It made me scared and made me want to keep my kids in the house," said Heather Chesna, a mother who lives in the complex. "Because if you could do this to your own family, then you could do it to pretty much anybody."
The child is in stable condition.
