Affidavit: Child killed on South Hydraulic had ‘massive internal injuries’

A 1-year-old child killed earlier this month had a fractured skull and ribs, lacerations to the liver and lungs, and a spinal cord hemorrhage, according to court paperwork released Wednesday.

Michael C. Williams, 29, a restaurant kitchen employee, was charged with first-degree murder and abuse of a child in connection with the death, which police ruled a homicide. Williams’ preliminary hearing was originally scheduled for Tuesday but has been postponed to Dec. 1.

A probable cause affidavit released Wednesday says the child’s mother, Teyonia Dickson, left her house in the 2100 block of South Hydraulic at around 1:30 p.m. on Sept. 9. The child was being cared for by Williams, her father.

According to the affidavit, while Dickson was at work, she received text messages from Williams saying, “And this girl done made me scratch trying to eat rubber bands and choking on paper” and “I mean … scratch her by her nose and under her lip.”

Williams saw the child chewing on something and, to get it out of her mouth, “he grabbed her by the top of her head and ‘pried’ open her mouth with his fingers,” the affidavit reads.

He later called 911 to report the child was not breathing. The child was pronounced dead at 8 p.m., according to the affidavit.

Williams is being held in the Sedgwick County Jail on a $250,000 bond.

This story was originally published September 30, 2015 at 4:38 PM with the headline "Affidavit: Child killed on South Hydraulic had ‘massive internal injuries’."