Bridgeport man accused of beating 6-year-old to death with baseball bat rejects plea deal
Abdulrahim Sulaiman, 40, is accused of attacking his wife and her two little boys with a baseball bat in the family's Bridgeport apartment. Sulaiman turned down the states 55-year plea deal and will head to trial where he's facing life in prison without the possibility of parole.
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The Bridgeport man accused of killing his wife's 6-year-old son with a baseball bat has rejected a plea deal that called for him to serve 55 years in prison. Instead, Abdulrahim Sulaiman, 40, turned down the prosecution’s offer on Wednesday and opted to take his chances at trial, where he'll face life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Sulaiman has been in custody since Sept. 25, 2024, when Bridgeport police said he attacked his wife and her two little boys inside the family's apartment on the corner of Main Street and Capital Avenue. Jathan Escobar, 6, and his brother, Eli, 4, were airlifted to the hospital, but Jathan didn't survive. Sulaiman was on probation at the time and arrested on several charges including murder, murder with special circumstances, two counts of first-degree assault, two counts of risk of injury to a minor and criminal possession of a firearm.
Since then, Sulaiman has added dozens more charges. He’s accused of twice assaulting marshals at the courthouse as well as violating a protective order by calling his wife from jail over 20 times. In those recorded conversations, police said Sulaiman asked his wife to lie and share the blame for the deadly attack. He's also charged with violation of probation.
The state’s offer, which was previously mentioned in court but without specifics, was officially put on the record Wednesday - 55 years in prison in exchange for Sulaiman pleading guilty to murder, two counts of assault and two counts of assaulting a public safety officer. All the other charges would be dropped.
Judge Shari Murphy asked Sulaiman a series of questions to make sure he understood what turning down that deal meant. Murphy went through each charge and the total possible prison time if he's found guilty of all of them. Technically, the maximum sentence is more than 240 years in prison plus life without parole.
"Do you still wish to reject the state's offer?” Murphy asked.
“Yes," Sulaiman replied.
Sulaiman's cases were then moved to the trial list and continued but no new date was given, The prosecution also said it’s moving to obtain records from the Department of Children and Families in connection to Jathan's death.
The child's family is suing the state of Connecticut for $100 million, claiming officials failed to protect the two boys from Sulaiman even though they were aware of his history of violence.
Jathan and Eli's paternal aunt, who’s now helping to raise Eli, was among the family members in court. She told News 12 she just wants Sulaiman to spend the rest of his life locked up.
Sulaiman's bond is over $11 million. His criminal history includes serving seven years in prison in New Jersey after a stabbing at a gas station, prosecutors said. He also has several prior convictions in Connecticut, including engaging police in a pursuit, larceny and drug possession. In September 2022, he pleaded guilty to assault of a police officer, risk of injury to a child and violation of a protective order. He was sentenced to two years in prison and four years of probation.
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