A man captured by US Marshals in a Billings hotel was accused Thursday of assaulting and seriously injuring a 3-year-old girl last month.
Willie Antoine Redd, 34, appeared in U.S. District Court in Billings Thursday on federal probation violations before Yellowstone County prosecutors filed a felony assault charge against him.
Redd was arrested Wednesday at the Motel 6 in Billings after the US Marshals Service issued an advisory seeking help finding him.
Prosecutors stated in court documents that police were called to Billings Clinic Feb. 3 after receiving a report that the 3-year-old girl was being treated for serious injuries.
Doctors told police the girl suffered broken vertebrae, lacerations to multiple organs, brain hemorrhaging and bruises all over her body. She was flown to Denver Children's Hospital for emergency surgery because of the severity.
The girl's mother told police at the hospital that she had left the girl in Redd's care before she left for work the day before.
She told police that he took the girl to Taco Bell on Grand Avenue around midnight when a vehicle pulled up next to them and someone inside opened fire. Redd told the mother that he drove away at a high speed, which is when the child, who was not wearing a seat belt, was injured, according to court documents.
Hospital staff told police the girl's injuries did not match this story.
Surveillance footage from Taco Bell from the night did not show the shootout described by Redd.
Redd was booked in Yellowstone County jail. He has not yet appeared in court on the assault charge.
