JERSEY SHORE -- World Wrestling Entertainment released a statement Thursday regarding the man in Lycoming County accused of using a wrestling maneuver on an 18 month old that police believe ended up killing the toddler.
Brandon Hoffman, 20, told troopers he was doing a wrestling move like the ones seen on WWE on an 18-month-old boy moments before he slammed the child on his head.
World Wrestling Entertainment reached out, calling his statement a "flimsy excuse."
Court papers say Brandon Hoffman did moves like "Rock Bottom," and then slammed the child's head off the floor while doing a wrestling move called "The Last Ride," inside the apartment Hoffman shares with the child's mother in Jersey Shore.
Hoffman told troopers he meant for the child to land on a bed but missed.
Bryson Shoemaker, 18 months old, died of traumatic injuries to his brain and neck.
Now Hoffman faces felony charges.
WWE reached out to Newswatch 16 today saying:
“There is no excuse for a 20-year-old grown man to assault an 18-month-old child, no matter what. Using a flimsy excuse about emulating a wrestling maneuver does not absolve Brandon Hoffman of this abhorrent crime.
"The death of Bryson Shoemaker is a tragedy, and WWE offers its condolences to the child’s mother, Sierra Shoemaker.”
We reached out to family and friends again on Thursday. They tell us they believe little Bryson's death was an accident.
Hoffman is still locked up in Lycoming County Prison.
