PENN HILLS, Pa. — A little girl was sent to the hospital after she was hit in the head by a rock while trick-or-treating in Penn Hills.
According to police paperwork, a mother and her 5-year-old daughter had just left a house on Dorothy Drive when the mother felt something hit her back. When she turned around, she saw a man pick up another fist-sized rock and throw it. The second rock struck her daughter in the head.
Channel 11 spoke off-camera to a woman at the home the pair had just left. She described the throw as hard and deliberate.
“I heard some commotion last night but wasn’t sure what it was,” Ricky Dixon told Channel 11. He lives across the street. “Life is hard enough for us to be throwing rocks at little 5-year-old girls. What’s this world coming to?”
Police arrested Skylar Smith, 26. According to police, he told them he did it because he was “feeling violent,” “wanted to hurt people,” and would “do it again.”
Smith underwent a psych evaluation at Forbes Hospital before being released back to police.
“Situations like this are really tricky, right? Everybody is dealing with [something]. We’ve got a mental health crisis in this world right now,” neighbor Brayden Lee said. “I just feel really, really awful for her family and I just hope she’s okay.”
The little girl was taken to UPMC East for a CT scan and stitches.
Smith is free on nonmonetary bond and is scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 18.
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