Missouri officers save baby after his father told him to drown

GREENWOOD, Missouri – Two Missouri officers saved the life of a 6-month-old girl whose father entered the police station and announced the authorities claim that he has just drowned his daughter.

Greenwood Police Chief Greg Hallgrimson and Cpl. Tom Calhoun rushed to a pond where the man stated that he had drowned his daughter on Monday and had gone out, performed a CPR and warmed her up. "She begins to breathe," said Lieutenant Aaron Fordham, who called the baby's survival a "miracle." [19659007] He stated that the 28-year-old father, Jonathon Stephen Zicarelli, did not show any emotion when he surprised the police by saying that he had left his daughter in an icy pond on the west side from Greenwood, about 20 miles southeast of Kansas City.

While Fordham was staying with Zicarelli, Hallgrimson and Calhoun ran towards the pond. They found the unconscious baby floating face-up, lethargic and its skin of a lifeless color, reported the Kansas City Star. She had mud in her eyes, grass and water in her mouth, and her lungs were full of water. Officers estimate that she spent more than 10 minutes in the pond.

Calhoun dipped into the water up to the thigh and then hurled the girl to the shore. Fordham says

Calhoun and Hallgrimson removed the baby's wet clothes and wrapped him in the chef's shirt to warm him up. Paramedics arrived and took the child to a nearby hospital.

"There was absolutely one who was watching over this child today," he said. She was treated for hypothermia.

"The news broke through the chain and there was a big sigh of relief," Fordham said.

Prosecutors charged Zicarelli with first degree assault.

According to the reporter. Zicarelli told investigators that he had been plotting for more than 24 hours to kill his daughter because he wanted to make things easier for his wife. He also said that he was stressed by the holidays and that he was trying to support his family. He stated that he had gone to the water three times before deciding to place the child in the water and watch her flow.