A Philadelphia woman who stepped in to help prevent a baby from being thrown off a bridge said she couldn’t just drive by after she saw what was happening. According to ABC 6, the suspect who threatened to throw the baby off the bridge was identified as 35-year-old Raheem Murphy.
Murphy, who is the father of the baby, has since been charged with aggravated assault, kidnapping, and endangering the welfare of children. Authorities said Murphy abducted the baby and mother before driving to the bridge. And besides threatening the baby and mother, he also threatened the woman who intervened.
Investigators said Murphy threatened to kill the minor following a domestic dispute with his child’s mother. In an interview with the news outlet, the good Samaritan, identified as Christine King, said she “couldn’t just pass” after she saw the baby.
She said she stepped in to help the couple without any hesitance. “I said, ‘Give me the baby.’ And I put my hand around the baby to pull the baby from him while she was trying to pull the baby too, and I said, ‘Give me the baby.’ He said, ‘Get off my baby, I will shoot you. I will shoot you,'” King recalled.
She said the baby’s mother managed to disarm Murphy when he got distracted. “She went behind him, he was shaking so he didn’t know she was in his pocket, and that’s when she grabbed the gun out of his pocket. That’s when she put it in her pocket,” said King, adding that they also made attempts to stop him from throwing the baby off the bridge.
Officers who responded to the scene managed to take the baby from Murphy, ABC 6 reported. But the suspect allegedly resisted arrest and attacked a state trooper before officers apprehended him.
His bail has since been set at $1.5 million. The DA’s office also said Murphy has been ordered to undergo a mental evaluation.
