Clinton Man Charged After Telling Deputy He Covered 3-Year-Old’s Mouth And Nose ‘Until She Stopped Breathing’

CLINTON, Ark. — A 21-year-old man who told a Van Buren County deputy he held his hand over a 3-year-old girl’s mouth and nose “until she stopped breathing” because he wanted her to stop crying was charged Tuesday with three felonies in Van Buren County Circuit Court.

Nathan McGhee of Clinton is charged with aggravated assault, second-degree battery of a child 12 or younger and first-degree endangering the welfare of a minor, all Class D felonies that carry up to six years in prison each. Prosecuting Attorney Carol Crews’ office filed the information Tuesday, and a circuit judge signed an arrest warrant and a no-contact order the same day.

The charges stem from a Sept. 21 call to a rental apartment on Arkansas 95 near Clinton, where McGhee had been staying for several days with a couple and their children, according to an affidavit by Chief Deputy Mark Lewis of the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office. Lewis wrote that he responded at about 5 a.m.

McGhee, whom Lewis described as about 6-foot-1, more than 300 pounds and “functioning autistic,” was read his rights and agreed to give a statement on a body-worn camera, the affidavit says. Asked what happened, he replied, “I was waiting for someone to ask.”

McGhee said he was sitting in the living room watching television with four small children when the 3-year-old began playing with her siblings’ action figures, the affidavit says. He said he did not want conflict and wanted the girl to stop crying, so he picked her up, put her in his lap and pinned her against his body with his leg and arm.

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McGhee put his left hand over the girl’s mouth and nose, Lewis wrote. “Nathan held his hand over her until she stopped breathing.” McGhee demonstrated for the deputy how he had picked the girl up and held her, the affidavit says.

McGhee then carried the girl into her parents’ bedroom, laid her on the bed, covered her up and went back to the living room to watch television, according to the affidavit. When her parents woke, the girl had wet herself and could not stand, and McGhee came into the bedroom and told the mother what he had done, Lewis wrote.

The girl was rushed to Ozark Health Medical Center in Clinton and then to Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, where she was admitted and was in stable condition at the time Lewis wrote the affidavit. The affidavit is dated Sept. 21 and was sworn before a notary Oct. 13.

McGhee was booked into the Van Buren County Detention Center the morning of Sept. 21 on a charge of first-degree battery, causing serious physical injury to a person known to be 12 or younger, with bond set at $1 million, according to the jail’s booking record. The information filed Tuesday does not include that charge.

Under Arkansas law, a person commits aggravated assault by impeding another person’s breathing or circulation by applying pressure to the chest, throat or neck or by blocking the nose or mouth. Second-degree battery covers knowingly causing physical injury to someone the defendant knows is 12 or younger, and first-degree endangering applies to a person charged with supervising a minor who purposely creates a substantial risk of death or serious physical injury.

The affidavit lists McGhee as having no prior felony convictions and says he was in custody when it was written. Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Elizabeth Snyder accepted the charges. The case is 71CR-26-97. No attorney had entered an appearance for McGhee as of Tuesday evening.