A man in Tampa, Florida, has been arrested for attempting to poison the family living above his apartment — reportedly because the man had complaints about the noise. The incident resulted in the family’s newborn child becoming very sick.
Xuming Li is charged with possession of a controlled substance, battery assault against the apartment residents, and aggravated stalking.
Authorities say Li, who has his Ph.D. in chemistry, repeatedly released a syringe filled with the strong opioid painkillers methadone and hydrocodone mixed with a yet unknown noxious substance inside the front door of the apartment where in Umar Abdullah, his wife, and their infant daughter lived, in an attempt to poison them.
Abdullah said the family had been on friendly terms with Li prior to his daughter’s birth, but the mood shifted after they arrived home from the hospital with their newborn.
“After my daughter was born, right after we came back from the hospital, he started complaining,” Abdullah told Inside Edition.
The family then started smelling chemicals throughout their apartment and the three of them became sick.
“She used to cough, and subsequently she used to vomit,” Abdullah said of his infant daughter. “Our baby was losing her hair. In that one month, we noticed our baby’s unusual hair in the shower. We Googled and realized babies don’t experience hair loss, and we noticed our hair in the shower as well,” he told DailyMail.com. “We can’t prove that it was linked, but we feel that it was because of the chemicals.”
The family had the air conditioning ducts checked, a plumber out to inspect the pipes, and the water heater replaced, yet they continued to smell the toxic fumes and deal with sickness. The fire department Hazmat team was called to the apartment and they were unable to pinpoint the source of the smell, though they did identify it as coming from the front door area.
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In an attempt to pinpoint the problem, Abdullah installed a hidden camera by his front door. The camera revealed the shocking footage of Li filling a syringe and sliding it under the family’s door. Seeing the footage and noticing that his baby was still sick sent the Abdullah family into a panic.
“My heart was wrenching as my head felt like it was spinning,” he said in the statement seen by DailyMail.com. “My wife and I rushed to the emergency room, clutching our precious daughter, fearing the worst. Seeing her tiny hand with an intravenous catheter, enduring those painful pokes and tests, tore me apart inside.”
According to the police report, firefighters and a police officer who responded to the scene broke out in rashes from the toxins in the air.
“The mixture was extremely hazardous and life-threatening,” Abdullah told Fox News Digital. “Inhaling the poison could lead to rapid entry of toxins into the bloodstream, which posed an even greater risk for babies.”
Li has pled not guilty to the charges. He has been released on bond and is next due in court in December.
