A mother in Minnesota dragged her 11-year-old son out of bed before throwing him off a fourth-floor balcony, according to police. The boy, who suffered serious head injuries, a broken femur, and a fractured jaw, is expected to survive. Found at the foot of his family's apartment building in St. Paul around 8:40am Monday, he was conscious and breathing but unable to tell officers what had happened, reports KARE. The boy's 33-year-old mother confessed, though she did not provide a reason for the attack, police rep Steve Linders tells the St. Paul Pioneer Press.
Itayvia D. Lloyd—arrested on suspicion of aggravated assault and malicious punishment of a child—"had gone into the child's bedroom, dragged him out of his bunk bed and thrown him off the balcony," Linders tells KARE. "We don't know what would make someone do this." Police made the arrest after interviewing Lloyd, her 6-year-old son (also home at the time), as well as a friend of Lloyd's who was there. Police Chief Todd Axtel thanked first responders. As a grandfather and officer "who has responded to calls like this—calls involving the unthinkable—I know the emotional toll this can take on a person," he said. (More Minnesota stories.)