Heroic Pennsylvania woman saves baby during shocking interstate incident

Editor's note: This article was originally published on August 4, 2022. It has since been updated.

Trigger warning: This article contains themes of domestic violence and child abuse that some readers may find distressing.

A courageous woman risked her life to save a child during a terrifying incident in Pennsylvania. Christine King stopped a man from throwing his baby off an interstate overpass while he was fighting with his ex-partner. King was driving along Interstate 95 in northeast Philadelphia when she noticed the couple fighting. She knew something was wrong with the way he was holding the baby and shouting at the woman. King soon realized that he was threatening to throw the baby off the highway overpass. King hit the brakes and pulled over. “I couldn’t just pass after I saw the baby,” said King, reported 6ABC. “And after I seen him trying to throw the baby over, I couldn’t let it go.” He also had a gun on him but that didn't deter King, who wanted to protect the baby.

King focused on de-escalating the issue and trying to get hold of the baby. “I said, ‘Give me the baby.’ And I put my hand around the baby to pull the baby from him while she was trying to pull the baby too, and I said, ‘Give me the baby,’” said King. “He said, ‘Get off my baby, I will shoot you. I will shoot you.’” King struck a fine balance between reasoning and arguing as she tried to calm the man down and stop him from throwing his baby off the highway overpass.

As she argued with the man, his former partner took the gun from him. “She went behind him, he was shaking so he didn’t know she was in his pocket, and that’s when she grabbed the gun out of his pocket,” said King. His former partner immediately pocketed the gun but he was still holding the baby. While they stalled him, authorities arrived at the scene, but it took a while even for them to extract the child from him. "The police then came and pointed their guns at him, but he didn't want to let the baby go," said King, reported NBC Philadelphia.

Authorities took the man into custody and later identified him as Raheem Murphy, 35. He was charged with aggravated assault, kidnapping and endangering the welfare of children. According to the Philadelphia District Attorney’s office, Murphy was also charged with endangering King and a Pennsylvania State Trooper who responded to the scene. Prosecutors stated that Murphy drew a gun on his former partner during an argument and kidnapped her along with their child. He then stopped at the overpass at the Cottman Avenue exit, before waving a gun at her and threatening to throw the baby off the overpass. Murphy is being held on a $1.5 million bail and is under a restraining order from the mother and child. He will also be required to take a mental health evaluation. King was asked if she had been scared of ever doing something like that again, and she said she wouldn't hesitate one bit if it happened all over again. “I’d do it again,” she said. “I didn’t see no gun, but when she took the gun from him, that’s when I seen the gun."

If you know of any children who are being subjected to abuse, please contact The Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at (800) 422-4453
If you are being subjected to domestic abuse or know of anyone else who is, please visit The National Domestic Violence Hotline website, call 1-800-799-7233, or text LOVEIS to 22522.