Man accused of choking, body-slamming child

DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A DeKalb County man is facing charges after police say he body-slammed a young boy.

Channel 2's Liz Artz learned that the man is accused of severely beating the child and then telling his mother to come get him before he killed him.

According to the police report, the man texted a family member saying, "Come get him, or I’m going to kill him." He now faces charges for making terroristic threats.

DeKalb County police said they arrested Raphael Wright, 26, on charges of child cruelty, aggravated assault and several other charges for allegedly body slamming an 8-year-old boy.

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The police report detailed the allegations from an incident back in May where Wright accused the child of taking money from his pants pocket for a school fundraiser.

Police said it happened inside a home off North Redan Circle.

The child's mom told police her son was so injured, he had difficulty urinating.

"It brought tears to my eyes," a neighbor said, "Cause I have seen children outside playing... doing that is unimaginable."

Wright is accused of grabbing the boy by the throat, strangling him, slamming him onto the bathroom floor and then whipping his naked body with a belt so hard that the child was bruised and cut, damaging his private parts, officials told Artz.

"We've never heard any noise or commotion. They were perfect neighbors," a neighbor said, "The children were always manageable and well-mannered."

The report goes on to state that Wright told the boy that he would never get tired of beating him.

"We've lived there for almost 20 years, so we've never had anything like that," a neighbor told Artz. "So when you told me that today, I was extremely shocked, saddened and surprised."

Cox Media Group