Man charged with trying to kill baby

By Staff
Jonathan Willis
A 20 year-old Phil Campbell man was arrested early Friday morning and charged with the attempted murder of his four-month old son.
Raymond Matthew McKinney, 4570 Franklin 20, Lot 1, was charged with attempted murder and child abuse early Friday morning outside of Eliza Coffee Memorial Hospital in Florence.
Attempted murder is a Class A felony, punishable by 10 years to life in prison. Child abuse is a Class C felony, punishable by one to 10 years in prison, if convicted.
Investigators with the Franklin County Sheriff's Department were called shortly after 2 a.m. Friday about a possible child abuse case.
Investigators believe the baby was viciously shaken before being taken to Russellville Hospital by McKinney and the child's mother.
He was later taken to ECM and then airlifted to Children's Hospital in Birmingham.
Franklin County District Attorney Joey Rushing said the baby is being treated for "shaken baby or shaken impact syndrome."
Investigators said the child was in a "48 hour" window Friday evening and was considered to be in critical condition.
If the infant does not survive, officials have said the charge will be upgraded to capital murder.
A Red Bay man was sentenced to death in 2007 after being found guilty of capital murder in Franklin County Circuit Court. Jodey Wayne Waldrop was accused of shaking or dropping his infant son and causing his death. He was the first person to receive the death penalty in Franklin County.
Sheriff Larry Plott said McKinney gave a statement Friday morning indicating "there were a lot of circumstances that caused him to lose his temper."
"It's hard for me to understand what causes someone to abuse a child, even though we see it all the time," Plott said.
McKinney is being held in the county jail on $350,000 bond.