Boy, 4, in Beating Case Improving
A 4-year-old boy, allegedly choked and beaten by his mother’s boyfriend, is no longer in a coma and has been taken off a respirator, a prosecutor and hospital officials said Thursday.
Meanwhile, the boyfriend, Fateheen Rahman, 22, of Glendale remains jailed on $500,000 bail and faces a preliminary hearing Wednesday on attempted murder and child abuse charges in connection with the June 12 incident.
Rahman was baby-sitting Jason Thivener and his twin sister Jessica in their Van Nuys home because the children’s mother was suddenly called to work and the regular baby-sitter was not available, Deputy Dist. Atty. Lea Purwin D’Agostino said.
After ordering the twins to stop crying, Rahman allegedly slapped and choked Jason. Jessica was not seriously injured and is now living with her father in another state, D’Agostino said.
Cheryl Trinidad, a spokeswoman for Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles, said Jason is in serious but stable condition.
“He has improved slightly,” she said, adding that the child has displayed “some spastic movement.”
D’Agostino said she expects paramedics, doctors and the twins’ 25-year-old mother to testify next week at the preliminary hearing in Van Nuys Municipal Court.
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