Man Critically Injures Infant Daughter Because She Was Falling While Trying to Walk, Police Say

An infant is in the hospital with life-threatening injuries after police say her father struck her several times after she kept falling while trying to walk.

Anthony Williams, 27, allegedly told police he had been "teaching" her, police said.

"That was what he said was his reaction, I guess his form of discipline," Sgt. Enrique Carrillo, of the El Paso Police Department Public Affairs office, told Oxygen.com.

El Paso police officers arrived at the house after receiving a call from someone who was visiting a neighbor and was concerned for the family's welfare, Carrillo said.

When they arrived, they found the little girl unresponsive, according to a statement from police.

Carrillo said Williams was taken into custody at the time and was later charged with injury to a child. He was booked into the El Paso County Detention Facility, where he was held under a $750,000 bond.

The child was taken to University Medical Center with what police described as "life threatening" injuries. Carrillo told Oxygen.com on Wednesday morning that he did not have an update on the girl's condition.

Neighbors told KFOX14 they were shocked by the allegations, describing Williams as a "typical father" who hadn't produced any warning signs he may have been capable of violence.

"All we ever heard was them arguing like a couple," neighbor Daniel Meza told the station. "There was never nothing further than that."

Other neighbors called the allegations "shocking and horrible to hear."

[Photo: El Paso Police Department]