Kyle Holder makes a first appearance June 29 in Clark County Superior Court after he allegedly beat his 2-year-old daughter at a Salmon Creek motel, leaving her in critical condition. Holder was ordered Friday to undergo 90 days of mental health treatment before his case can continue. (Amanda Cowan/The Columbian)Photo Gallery
A toddler was in critical condition Wednesday, and her father was behind bars at the Clark County Jail, after he allegedly threw her out of an open window and severely beat her at a Salmon Creek motel Tuesday night.
Kyle Stephen Holder, 32, of Vancouver appeared Wednesday morning in Clark County Superior Court on suspicion of attempted first-degree murder.
Judge Bernard Veljacic set Holder’s bail at $1 million and appointed him a defense attorney. He will be arraigned July 8.
Clark County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the Sunnyside Motel, a residential motel at 12200 N.E. Highway 99, just before 9 p.m. Tuesday for a reported disturbance with a baseball bat. A good Samaritan who intervened in the attack on the 2-year-old girl used a bat to strike Holder, the sheriff’s office said.
According to a probable cause affidavit filed in Superior Court, the child and her mother, Barbara Keller, were sleeping in their room when Holder walked in, grabbed the girl, carried her to the open window and threw her out onto a concrete walkway.
Holder then walked outside, picked up the girl and repeatedly threw her to the ground, the affidavit said.
A couple in a neighboring room heard screaming and came outside. Donald Gilbert said he saw Holder assaulting the child and confronted him, at which point Holder stopped attacking the girl, according to court records.
Responding deputies described Holder as being out of control and used a Taser on him to take him into custody, the sheriff’s office said. The girl was severely injured and taken to Legacy Emanuel Medical Center in Portland. On Wednesday afternoon, the sheriff’s office said the girl was listed in critical condition.
Holder told law enforcement officers that he didn’t want to kill the girl, but he had to, the affidavit states.
“I had to hold my daughter and crush her head so she could go up to the sky,” he allegedly told officers.
Holder was taken to a local hospital with injuries and later was booked into the Clark County Jail. No charges are expected to be brought against the resident who intervened in the attack, the sheriff’s office said.
Gene Smith, who described himself as a family friend of Holder, said that Holder moved to Washington from Georgia just a few months ago to live closer to Keller’s family.
Smith, who lives in the Atlanta area, said that Holder suffers from alcoholism and drug addiction, as well as paranoia and schizophrenia. He added that Holder had been clean for a long time and had just gotten a job at Wal-Mart.
“He’s not a monster. …He’s got a disease,” Smith said. “I know it’s easy to rush to judge … but what happened last night is an episode. This is something nobody ever saw coming.”
Smith said he’s known Holder for 20 years and is the person who Holder would call when he wanted to drink or take a pill. He said that Holder would never hurt his daughter if he had known what he was doing.
“He loved his daughter immensely. He played with her every day, sang to her, played guitar for her,” Smith said. “He’s had some kind of psychotic break.”
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