Odessa, TX – A Black, 18-year-old man was arrested after allegedly breaking into a Hospital natal unit, assaulting staff, and strangling two infants on Oct. 3rd.
The now-released affidavit of alleged baby strangler Marcus McCowan Jr’s arrest reveals the details of what took place that night, resulting in charges of two counts of Attempted Capital Murder, Assault, Assault of a Public Servant, Resisting Arrest, Attempting to Take a Weapon From an Officer, Criminal Trespassing, and Possession of a Controlled Substance.
McCowen—who has a lengthy criminal history—first entered Odessa Regional Medical Center around 6 pm, claiming that his girlfriend was in labor and soon became unruly. He reportedly approached an attendant’s station while making unintelligible statements. He then allegedly grabbed a nurse’s arm and started running across the facility in an erratic manner that staff described as “odd and unreasonable.”
After being asked to leave, McCowen accosted a new mother who shielded her baby from him. Reports say he then started stomping and running at full speed towards the three staff members, attempting to enter the nursery while screaming.
When staff prevented him from entering the locked nursery, McCowen grew frustrated and returned to the previous mother, grabbing her baby and running with it into the unit’s lactation room.
A nurse quickly followed him in and allegedly saw him place his arms around the infant’s neck and forcefully choke the child. Reports say the infant’s face turned blue from lack of oxygen before the staff was able to finally remove the baby from McCowen’s possession.
After this, McCowen exited the lactation room and, this time, successfully barged into the nursery, knocking down nurses. At this time, he picked up another infant by the neck, strangling and shaking it with both hands.
McCowen then yelled at the infant to “die” and gestured as if he were going to throw it on the ground before the staff wrestled him to the ground, protecting the infant—who had since turned purple—from any further damage.
Once police arrived, McCowen continued acting in a violent manner, resisting arrest and twice unsuccessfully attempting to take the gun from a police officer’s holster before finally being led away in handcuffs after having confiscated his THC vape pen.
“I want to express my sincere gratitude to those who responded to the incident last evening, especially our nurses, therapists, and security team who worked diligently to protect innocent babies and others,” said ORMC President, Stacey Brown in a statement.
“The staff and physicians, along with the response team from the Odessa Police Department, are incredible heroes, and we are all so grateful to each of them. Our attention is now focused on caring for and supporting those who were impacted by this, including our patients, their families, and our staff,” she continued.
McCowan is now in custody at the Ector County Law Enforcement Center with a bond set at a combined $228,000. At this time, it is unknown what the race of the victims is or if hate crimes are an appropriate demand in this scenario.
The Justice Report has contacted law enforcement and Odessa Regional for a statement; however, due to the victim’s age and the ongoing investigation, both parties denied speaking further on the incident.
Innocent White children have often found themselves the targets of violent Black crime. In 2021, 4-year-old Cash Gernon was kidnapped as he slept in his crib by 18-year-old Darriynn Brown—who is Black.
The horrifying incident was caught on nannycam, and Gernon would later be found dead in the street. In January of that same year, 3-year-old Victoria Rose Smith was beaten to death by her adoptive Black parents. The murderers, Jerry and Ariel Robinson, were former reality television stars who would post on social media about their children’s “White privilege.”
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