BY RACHEL DOVE
MOUNTAIN CITIZEN

DEBORD — A Johnson County man was arrested in Debord last week on first-degree strangulation charges involving a 5-month-old baby.

Alexander M. Jude, 21, formerly of Thelma, was booked Aug. 23 at the Big Sandy Regional Detention Center.

Jude’s arrest follows an indictment by a Johnson County grand jury for a Jan. 3 incident in which Jude allegedly squeezed the baby so hard that it was blue.

According to police records, Johnson County Sheriff’s Deputy J. Castle responded to a 911 call Jan. 3 from Nevaeh Colvin, the mother of the infant and girlfriend of Jude, at an apartment in Thelma. Colvin claimed she left the room to put clothes in the dryer and, upon her return, found Jude squeezing her infant in his arms.

Colvin relayed to the deputy that she began screaming at Jude to let the baby go and grabbed the baby away from Jude. Colvin stated that Jude then began hitting himself in the head and saying he was going to kill himself.

Records indicate the baby had bruising around the neck and on the chest.

Jude allegedly told officers the infant had woken him up screaming, and he was just trying to get the infant to calm down and go back to sleep.

In January, Jude was charged with third-degree criminal abuse (child under 12). However, the charge was reevaluated and upgraded to first-degree strangulation.