6-Year-Old Is Reportedly Brain Dead After Being Beaten with Metal Baseball Bat by Stepfather: Prosecutors

Mar. 15, 2025

Jathan Escobar and Abdulrahim Sulaiman.Photo:GoFundMe; Bridgeport Police

GoFundMe; Bridgeport Police

A Connecticut man is accused of a brutal attack on his two young stepsons and his wife that has reportedly left her 6-year-old child brain dead.

Abdulrahim Sulaiman, 38, of Bridgeport, faces a host of charges including three counts of attempted murder in connection with the case, online court records allege.

Jathan Escobar, 6, is on life support and has been declared brain dead as a result of the attack, his family toldlocal outlet WFSB.

They are praying for a miracle. “He was always so happy," Sasha Heron, Jathan’s cousin, told WFSB.

Just before 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 23, the woman called 911, begging for help.

Moments later, Sulaiman is allegedly captured on surveillance video “jumping out of an upper window and landing headfirst into a garbage dumpster,” before swinging the bat around, the report claims.

An officer spotted Sulaiman “muttering to himself" with blood on his hands and arms, and took him into custody, the report alleges.

Inside the apartment, the woman, who was bleeding and had a hole in her head near her eye, cradled Jathan, who was bleeding profusely.

While performing CPR on Jathan, officers said they could see visible “brain matter” in a hole on the top of his head, the report alleges.

Jathan’s 4-year-old brother’s condition was upgraded to stable and he is expected to survive.

But for Jathan, the “likelihood of survival of this individual is close to zero,” Assistant State’s Attorney Craig Nowak, said in court,local station Fox 61reports.

Sulaiman, a convicted felon, is also charged with three counts of first-degree assault, two counts of risk of injury to a child and criminal possession of a firearm.

He is facing separate charges for allegedly hitting a judicial marshal and spitting blood on another, according to court records.

He is being held on a $10 million bond.

Jathan remains in critical condition at a local hospital, Tiadora Josef, Director of Public Information for the City of Bridgeport, tells PEOPLE in an email.

The defendant’s attorney did not respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go tothehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

source: people.com