Man Charged After Allegedly Beating Girlfriend’s 1-Year-Old ‘Like a Man,’ Causing Traumatic Brain Injury

gorodenkoff/Shutterstock, D-Keine/iStock

When a mother entrusts the care of her child to a partner, the last thing she expects is child abuse. Whether the kid is biologically related to the caregiver is irrelevant. A Pennsylvania man, however, was recently charged after allegedly beating his girlfriend’s 1-year-old “like a man.”

Lyndon Henderson, 24, was arrested in November 2024 after allegedly attacking the toddler. The Pittsburgh man babysat the boy, Kybrel, while his mother worked. Tragically, she returned home to find her young son unresponsive – and now, Henderson faces serious charges.

The mother discovered her 1-year-old unresponsive in November.

Kybrel was admitted to a hospital November 23 after police responded to a call at his Pittsburgh apartment, according to a criminal complaint, per WTAE. The toddler’s mother told police she left her son with Henderson while she was at work. When she returned home, she found the boy unresponsive on a couch.

According to doctors, the toddler had serious injuries.

Kybrel was placed on a ventilator at the hospital, WTAE reported, and had a traumatic brain injury and multiple bruises. Additionally, he had a stroke and broken neck vertebra, according to WPXI. The toddler was later placed on a feeding tube and was in a medically induced coma.

The toddler's paternal grandmother said Kybrel was 'beat like a man.'

After visiting her grandson in the hospital, Kybrel’s paternal grandmother, Carla Darrell, spoke with WPXI about his condition. “It wasn’t good. He was on all kinds of machines. He was beat like a man. A man beat my grandson,” she said.

“He didn’t do [anything],” she continued. “There was nothing possible he could’ve [done] to do this to him.”

Since then, Henderson has been charged with attempted homicide.

Henderson was arrested in November and charged with assault, WTAE reported. Now, however, the charges have been upgraded to attempted homicide, per WPXI. Henderson was being held in Washington County Jail and was denied bail.

The district attorney promised to prosecute to the 'fullest extent the law allows.'

“My office will always seek justice for victims,” Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh told WPXI. “Children are innocent and our most vulnerable, and I will prosecute offenders who commit crimes against them vigorously and to the fullest extent the law allows.”

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for January 15.