May 07, 2015
GoFundMe.org/for PhillyVoice
A GoFundMe.com account has been set up to help the family pay for the toddler's funeral expenses.
A Pennsylvania man has been charged with accidentally killing his girlfriend's 18-month-old son in an alleged professional wrestling maneuver gone wrong, PennLive reports.
According to PennLive, the defendant, 20-year-old Brandon Scott Hoffman, told police he meant to slam the child, Bryson Shoemaker, onto a bed but missed, and the child struck his head on the hardwood floor.
The incident occurred Tuesday in Lycoming County, where Hoffman lived with the child and his girlfriend, the child's mother, Sierra Shoemaker, who was at work at the time.
Police said Hoffman was performing a move made famous by the wrestler The Undertaker known as "The Last Ride." In the move, depicted in many online videos, the wrestler gets the opponent on his shoulders in a sort of reverse piggyback, then throws him to the ground.
He had earlier performed another wrestling move that also involved dropping Bryson onto the bed, authorities said.
Hoffman told investigators he tried performing CPR and took Bryson to the hospital instead of calling 911 because he feared getting in trouble. Hospital staff told police the child may have had a broken neck and collapsed lung.
Police said Hoffman at first told them the injury occurred when he threw Bryson into the air and did not catch him.
Hoffman was jailed after bail was set at $150,000. Court officials said he didn't have a lawyer on file.
In a statement Thursday, World Wrestling Entertainment Inc., in Stamford, Connecticut, said that "blaming a wrestling maneuver is a flimsy excuse for reckless behavior."
"There is no excuse for a 20-year-old grown man to behave in this manner with an 18-month-old child. The death of Bryson Shoemaker is a tragedy, and WWE offers its condolences to the child's mother, Sierra Shoemaker," WWE said.
A GoFundMe site has been set up to help the family pay for the child's funeral expenses.
Read the full PennLive article here.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
