An 11-month-old boy is fighting for his life after he was used as a “human shield” by his own father during a Philadelphia shooting, prosecutors said in a new report.
The toddler, Yaseem Munir Jenkins, was struck in the head, neck, and buttocks while in the back seat of a moving car in the city’s Hunting Park section on October 19.
Officials said at the time that Yaseem’s father, Nafes Monroe, his stepmother, and another man were in the car when shots suddenly rang out.
“He was using counterfeit money to purchase drugs, knowing that counterfeit money is something that is very upsetting to drug dealers, and when they find out that they’re being burned with counterfeit money, they act violently,” Anthony Voci, of the district attorney’s office, said. “And this was not the first instance of Mr. Monroe using counterfeit money.”
“Our investigation has led us to believe that he intentionally had his child with him when he was making such types of purchases with the idea or belief that if someone saw that he had a child in the car that they would not fire upon him,” Voci added. “A human shield is probably the term that I would use.”
Voci also noted that Monroe did not bring his gravely wounded child to the hospital right away.
“He… was not only in the car with his child in harm’s way, but drove the child to a house rather than taking him to a hospital immediately, then dropped his child off at the hospital and never looked back,” Voci added.
The child is not expected to make a full recovery. Police Captain Nicholas Brown said, if he survives, “he’ll most likely be quadriplegic.”
Monroe — who was previously taken into custody on a probation violation — has been arrested in connection to the shooting, the city’s district attorney’s office announced Tuesday. He also faces charges of recklessly endangering another person and endangering the welfare of a child.
According to CBS Philadelphia, the alleged shooter, Francisco Ortiz, has been charged with attempted murder in this case and is also accused of being involved in another local crime.
Police revealed that the gun used to kill a 2-year-old girl, inside her home less than 24 hours later and about two miles away was given to the suspects by Ortiz, according to the report.
