LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A man accused of throwing a 5-year-old girl head-first off a third-floor balcony believed the girl was a demon and “full of bad spirits,” according to a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department arrest report.
Jarick Willis, 32, is in critical but stable condition at University Medical Center after the girl’s mother shot him after he grabbed the girl by the hair and dragged her to the balcony and threw her over, according to accounts in the arrest report.
The girl landed “face first” on gravel below the balcony, according to a neighbor who witnessed the incident.
The girl’s mother, Angela Matthews, got a gun from her purse and confronted Willis, who was in the shower. They struggled over the gun, and Willis was shot. He left, bleeding and naked, lowering himself down from the balcony.
Police found him after following the trail of blood and took him into custody.
“Angela said she and Jarick practice and believe in African Spirituality and on Saturday Jarick started talking about how he believed (the daughter) was full of bad spirits. Matthews told him to stop talking about her daughter in that way, to which she indicated Jarick apologized to her.”
The girl’s condition remains unknown. Witnesses said she was unconscious after the fall.
The arrest report describes a chaotic scene inside the home, and says Matthews was hysterical when they arrived. She believed Willis had killed the girl.
“Angela said Jarick was getting into the shower and he again made a comment to her about (the daughter) having “bad entities” and essentially called believed she was a demon,” according to the arrest report.
The girl’s name has been redacted from the arrest report.
An older daughter and a son were in the apartment at the time of the attack.
Willis has been charged with attempted murder, child abuse or neglect, child abuse of neglect with substantial bodily harm and domestic battery.