SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A guy from Springfield has been charged with holding a six-year-old boy underwater.
Online court records say that Donald Joseph Smith is charged with one count of child abuse or neglect.
According to the Springfield Police Department’s (SPD) probable cause statement, Smith was living with the victim and his family when the crime happened in May. He had been released on parole for a 20-year sentence for armed criminal action in March 2024.
She told police that she was inside the house when she heard her son crying outside. Later, when she went outside, she said Smith had his hand on her son’s chest and was pushing him into a wet pool while her son tried to get out. Records show that Smith left as the victim’s mother came outside.
The victim, a boy, said that Smith had grabbed him by the hair and pushed his head underwater. The boy told people he was interviewing that he couldn’t breathe and that Smith hit him on the cheek when he tried to turn his head to the side. Also, the boy said Smith put him underwater because Smith told him not to go into the pool.
Documents show that Smith told police that the boy had been kicking his sisters out of the play and wouldn’t stop when Smith asked him to. Smith said that he had put his finger on the victim’s chest to get his attention, but the boy yelled at him to stop. The papers show that Smith said the victim’s mother told him that the child didn’t like it and that he replied “okay” and backed off.
The probable cause statement also says that when investigators talked to Smith, they saw that he “exhibited explosive anger.” Smith has a past of crimes that include assault, robbery, and armed criminal action.
Smith is being held in the Greene County Jail on a $10,000 bond right now.
Content Source: Springfield man accused of holding six-year-old head underwater
