A man in Tennessee is accused of dangling his baby daughter over a balcony railing and threatening to shoot the girl’s mother.
Duriell Williams, 21, has been charged with aggravated assault and child endangerment, according to a Shelby County criminal affidavit. The charges stem from an incident that occurred in Memphis in early June.
On June 6, a woman reported to the Memphis Police Department that her child’s father, Williams, assaulted her and their 5-month-old daughter while they were visiting her at her apartment in Washington Manor, located off East Belz Boulevard in Memphis. According to the court documents, Williams approached the woman and asked her to “come outside and talk.”
She agreed, and then Williams “asked to see and hold their child,” according to the affidavit. As he did so, he allegedly threatened, “You don’t think I’d throw her over the railing.”
Williams allegedly “held the infant’s feet over the second-story railing outside the apartment knowing[ly] putting the infant in imminent danger,” the report states. The mother was able to take the child away from Williams and flee back into her apartment, but the alleged threat was not over.
According to reports, the suspect pulled out a gun and “threatened to shoot up the apartment” – which housed several other children – if the woman did not come outside. “Fearing what Williams may do,” she went back out and met him, according to the affidavit.
He is accused of then pointing his gun at the woman and “asking if she was ready to die.” However, he noticed neighbors nearby and left, according to the affidavit.
Williams was later arrested and is being held in Shelby County Jail on a $100,500 bond. His next court date is scheduled for August 4.