Putnam County deputies: Boy choked by 11-year-old

4-year-old remains in critical condition in Gainesville hospital

PALATKA, Fla. – An 11-year-old boy is charged in connection with the choking of a 4-year-old boy at a Palatka trailer park early Monday morning.

Deputies responded to the Westover mobile home park around 4 a.m.  Paramedics rushed the child to a Gainesville hospital, where he remains in critical condition.

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The Putnam County Sheriffs Office said a deputy tried to give the boy CPR until medics got to the home. The victim was taken to UF Health in Gainesville in critical condition.

Putnam County deputies determined the boy was choked by an 11-year-old boy who lived in the same home. The boy is charged with aggravated battery resulting in serious damage.

Twelve people were reportedly inside the home at the time. Six were adults, six were juveniles. 

Neighbor Marsha Winston said her children know the boy.

"It's scary, because I have a 7-year-old and he likes to play," Winston said. "He likes to go to different people's houses and play. Sometimes, it's kind of hard to keep track of a child, but a baby that young -- 4:30 in the morning ... something was clearly not right."

Investigators aren't saying much about the circumstances surrounding the child's injuries. But word of what happened got around fast Monday morning, with neighbors like Winston suspecting the worst.

"That could have been any one of our kids staying the night, you know?" she said. "And that happened. So clearly, I'm very hurt by it and saddened by it, and my son is, too.

Winston told News4Jax that there's a lot of traffic in and out of the area but isn't sure what could have led to the incident.

"Whether it's a suburban area, whether it's an area like this, it doesn't really matter," Winston said. "Whether you're white or you're black, it doesn't really matter. It's a matter of you have to watch who you have around your kids. You have to watch your lifestyle, because this is very tragic."