Boy, 5, Coerced to Take Bourbon ‘Like a Man’ Dies

A 5-year-old boy who drank 10 ounces of bourbon after an adult allegedly prompted him to do so “like a man” died Wednesday following his removal from life support systems, authorities said.

Everman, Tex., Police Sgt. Mark Bigler said Thomas Griffin died at Cook-Ft. Worth Children’s Medical Center. The respirator supporting the youngster’s breathing was disconnected Tuesday night, but the child had continued to breathe on his own. Doctors said he would probably have suffered irreversible brain damage.

Police in suburban Everman said the boy was given the alcohol at a party Friday night and “told to drink it like a man.” Police said they speculate that Anthony Jimerson, 21, used the liquor to try to quiet the youth so he could be alone with the child’s mother.

Jimerson, 21, of Forest Hills was being held in the Tarrant County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail after initially being charged with injury to a child, officials said. Police Chief Roger Larm said Wednesday that the charge would be upgraded to felony murder with injury to a child, a first-degree felony.

The boy was taken to the hospital Saturday after he went into convulsions, Bigler said. At one point his blood-alcohol level was about .55%, Bigler said. The minimum level to be considered legally intoxicated in most states is less than one-fifth that amount.