DAYTONA BEACH, FL – A 31-year-old Florida man, Brandon Gilmore, has been arrested and charged with aggravated child abuse after allegedly dropping a 4-year-old child from the second floor of a Daytona Beach hotel. The incident occurred at the Sandlewood Resort on Saturday, July 6.
According to the arrest affidavit, Gilmore took the child, who is not his, onto a second-story balcony after telling the child’s mother that he intended to play and “scare him a little bit.” He then held the child by his legs over the balcony’s edge before ultimately dropping him headfirst.
The Daytona Beach Police Department reported that the child suffered blunt force trauma to his head due to the fall but has been released from the hospital in good health with no long-term health issues expected.
The child’s mother had met Gilmore only five hours earlier, inviting him to her room to “hang out” after meeting at the hotel pool where both were drinking. They had discussions about further plans to get a piercing later that day.
Eyewitnesses and hotel surveillance corroborated the sequence of events. One eyewitness, Dasanni Bentley, told a local news outlet that Gilmore was seemingly playing with the child before the incident escalated to the child being dropped from a considerable height. The incident was also captured on hotel security cameras, confirming the accounts provided by onlookers.
Gilmore is currently held at the Volusia County Jail. It is unclear if he has entered a plea or if he has legal representation.