First Degree Child Cruelty and Other Charges Filed in July 2023 Assault of Two-Year Old

Press Release

Defendant Accused of Kicking Stranger's Two-Year Old Down Metro Escalator

WASHINGTON - William Woodson, 26, of Southeast Washington, D.C. was indicted today by a D.C. Superior Court grand jury on three felony counts. Specifically, he is charged with one count of first degree child cruelty and one count of assault with significant bodily injury against a minor for his assault on a two-year-old victim, along with another felony charge from conduct directed at a separate adult the same day. The charges are in connection with an allegation that the defendant kicked a stranger's two-year-old child down the escalator at the Mount Vernon Square metro station. The charges were announced by U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin, Jr. and Chief Pamela Smith of the Metropolitan Police Department.

Woodson is detained while the case remains pending.

According to the government's evidence, presented in police affidavits, on July 24, 2023 around 11:20 a.m., the victim's mother was walking down the escalator at the Mount Vernon Square metro station when the defendant came up behind them. He then (without any prior interaction or provocation) kicked the two-year-old child, causing him to fall down the escalator, hitting his head and face. Woodson exited the station and the victim's mother followed him while carrying the now-injured child victim. The victim's mother followed the defendant out of the metro station and called 911, providing law enforcement with information about the defendant.

Responding MPD officers met the mother who gave them a lookout and, subsequently, officers stopped Woodson a short distance away. Medics arrived on scene and, noting that the two-year-old victim was bleeding from the head, advised the victim's mother that he required transport to Children's Hospital immediately. During transport, the victim lost consciousness. The victim remained hospitalized for approximately twelve hours and was diagnosed with a mild concussion before being sent home with his mother.

This case is being investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department and the Metropolitan Transit Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Katherine Ballou of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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Updated April 2, 2025