A truly horrifying story is coming out of Texas, where an 18 year-old was arrested after breaking into a hospital nursery and allegedly choking infants while screaming “die!”
Police in Odessa, TX arrested Marcus McCowan on Oct. 3 who allegedly assaulted hospital staff & strangled two newborn babies at Odessa Regional Medical Center. The affidavit says both babies had turned blue from lack of oxygen. Responding police were then attacked by the suspect. pic.twitter.com/BnMnmwgpmD
— Andy Ngô 🏳️🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) October 6, 2022
Chaos Unfolds At Hospital
The New York Post reported that it all started on Monday night, when Marcus Dewayne McCowan Jr. was visiting his girlfriend at Odessa Regional Medical Center, where she was in labor. Reports claim that the teenager began acting strangely, and he was ultimately asked to leave after he walked up to the nurses’ station and grabbed a nurse by the arm while making “an unintelligible statement.”
According to an affidavit obtained by KMID, McCowan then began running back and forth in the hospital hallway in a manner that staffers described as being “odd and unreasonable.” He proceeded to run at “full speed” towards two nurses, who have since been identified as Haley Sanchez and Kassandra Reyes, and a mother who was preparing to leave the hospital with her newborn baby.
McCowan shoved Sanchez to the ground as he screamed while trying to gain access to the nursery where the newborn babies in the hospital were being held. When he wasn’t able to get in, he grabbed the newborn baby from the nearby mother and ran into the lactation room, where he choked the baby until she turned blue.
On Monday evening, the Odessa Police Department arrested an 18-year-old man who allegedly broke into the newborn nursery at Odessa Regional Medical Center and assaulted two infants along with a group of medical staff trying to help the babies.
— Leoria (@Leoria20) October 5, 2022
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McCowan Breaks Into Nursery
Nurses thankfully were able to intervene and rescue the baby, but McCowan took this opportunity to gain entry to the nursery, where he was seen by therapist Martha Fuentes choking another baby girl until her lips and face began to change color. To the therapist’s horror, McCowan shouted “die” as he squeezed her neck, and moved in certain manner that indicated he was about to throw her to the floor.
Fuentes was then able to stop McCowan and save the baby just in time, as security officer Lori Tavarez finally arrived on the scene and put a stop to the altercation. When police arrived, however, McCowan lost it once again and tried to grab one of the officer’s guns. When police searched the 18 year-old, they found a THC vape pen in his possession.
The New York Post reports that McCowan has since been hit with numerous charges that include “two counts of attempted capital murder, possession of a controlled substance, attempt to take a weapon from an officer, assault of a public servant, resisting arrest, criminal trespass and assault.” Find out more about what happened in the video below.
Hospital Responds
Stacey Brown, president of Odessa Regional Medical Center, released a brief statement addressing this horrifying incident:
“I want to express my sincere gratitude to those who responded to the incident last evening, especially our nurses, therapists and security team who worked diligently to protect innocent babies and others.”
“The staff and physicians, along with the response team from the Odessa Police Department, are incredible heroes and we are all so grateful to each of them. Our attention is now focused on caring for and supporting those who were impacted by this including our patients, their families, and our staff.”
It goes without saying that this incident is deeply disturbing, as it takes a truly sick individual to go after newborn babies in this way. Here’s hoping that the judge throws the book at McCowan, because it would be hard to feel safe knowing that someone like that is out on the streets.