A Chester County father is facing attempted homicide charges after police say he stabbed his three-month-old son on Wednesday inside a Coatesville apartment. The alleged assailant, 44-year-old Michael Phillips, has been taken into custody following the incident, which also involved him reportedly throwing the baby into the snow, according to information obtained by FOX 29.
The disturbing scene unfolded shortly after 11:30 a.m. on the 2000 block of Smithbridge Drive, where neighbors and police became witnesses to a deeply traumatic event involving Phillips, him being incoherent, and his arraignment was delayed on Wednesday, per details from WLBT. Police say he was acting oddly beforehand, making comments about needing to sacrifice the baby.
Body camera footage later captured Phillips with a bloodied shirt while making a disturbing confession. "I did it, God, I did it," he's heard saying in the aftermath as described by the affidavit and reported by ABC7. The child’s mother recounted the harrowing moments leading up to the stabbing and how she fled the apartment with her baby and nine-year-old son, the latter frantically seeking help from neighbors.
Neighbors like Jim Gimmell, who stepped in to assist, described the immediate aftermath. "The 9-year-old came to our front stoop and we went downstairs, and he was like, ‘He’s going to kill my baby, he’s going to kill my baby’ and I was like tell me where to go, so I called my wife downstairs, she took him upstairs," Gimmell told FOX 29. Soon after, police apprehended Phillips and rushed the infant to emergency care. According to ABC7, the child underwent surgery at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and is currently in critical but stable condition.
