An 11-month-old boy was shot after his father allegedly took him to a drug deal in Philadelphia to use him as a "human shield."
Nafes Monroe thought the baby would prevent violence. He was arrested and charged with recklessly endangering another person and endangering the welfare of a child, the chief of the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Homicide Unit, Anthony Voci Jr., said at a press conference.
The 11-month-old, identified as Yaseem Munir Jenkins by WPVI, was in the back seat of the vehicle with Monroe and his girlfriend when he was shot four times.
After the shooting, rather than taking the boy to the hospital, he took him to a house, according to Voci. Monroe eventually dropped his son off at the hospital and "never looked back and went into the wind, so to speak," Voci said.
Monroe was wanted on a probation warrant and was using counterfeit money to purchase drugs at the time of the incident, Voci said. Using counterfeit money is "very upsetting to drug dealers," Voci added. More counterfeit money was found in the car Monroe's son was shot in.
"It's our belief and our investigation has led us to believe that he intentionally had his child with him when he was making such types of purchases with the idea or belief that if someone saw that he had a child in the car that they would not fire upon him," Voci said.
The toddler continues to fight for his life, WPVI reported.
