LITTLE RIVER COUNTY, Ark–A man accused of causing serious burns and internal injuries to the 2-year-old son of his girlfriend has been formally charged by prosecutors in Little River County with two felonies, including one that carries a potential life sentence, court records filed Friday show.
Bobby Kyle Gibson, 29, was charged Friday with first-degree domestic battery, a crime punishable by 10 to 40 years or life in prison, and with endangering the welfare of a minor, a crime punishable by up to six years in prison, a $10,000 fine, or both.
Gibson allegedly injured the boy Dec. 23 at his home in Foreman, Ark., according to court records filed in Bowie County, Texas, in a criminal case against the child’s mother, Kelsey Allgor, 26. Allgor is facing charges of injury to a child and child endangerment for allegedly failing to get medical attention for her son after he was injured by Gibson in November and December.
Officers with the Texarkana Texas Police Dept. responded Christmas Day to an apartment in a complex on Richmond Road after the boy’s biological father called 911 and asked for a welfare check of the boy. When officers arrived, they found the boy had “extensive bruising and obvious injuries.”
The boy was taken to CHRISTUS St. Michael Hospital in Texarkana where medical staff determined he required surgery for internal injuries and arranged for him to be airlifted to Dallas Children’s Hospital for treatment.
Allgor allegedly told police that she and her son had stayed at Gibson’s house in Foreman on the night of Dec. 23 and that she noticed bruising on his forehead after Gibson had tried to give the boy some medicine. Allgor reportedly told investigators that Gibson told her the boy had been refusing to take the medicine when she asked about the bruising.
The following day, Allgor allegedly noticed “extensive bruising” to the boy’s face and body and that when he started throwing up, she and Gibson took him back to her apartment in Texarkana, according to the affidavit. Gibson allegedly claimed the boy must have tripped and hit his head, when asked about his apparent injuries.
Gibson allegedly left Allgor’s apartment in Texarkana on Christmas. Allgor allegedly called a friend whose boyfriend contacted the boy’s father, who in turn went to Allgor’s apartment and then called the police.
The boy’s father had reportedly noticed injuries – healing bruises, a healing burn, a black eye, a missing toenail and missing hair – when he picked the boy up from daycare in mid-December, according to records in Allgor’s case in Texas. Allgor had allegedly denied the boy’s father visitation with the child for two months before that. The father reportedly contacted Child Protective Services at that time to report suspected abuse and shared photos of the injuries with investigators.
The investigation further revealed that in November, Allgor had contacted a nurse on Nov. 10 about extensive burns to the child’s buttocks and leg which she claimed were the result of severe diarrhea. Allgor allegedly failed to follow the nurse’s instructions to take the boy to an emergency room because she feared Child Protective Services would remove him from her care, the affidavit said.
Gibson allegedly told investigators in Little River County that he and Allgor had been “too busy having sex” to clean the boy after he’d suffered a bout of diarrhea that caused burns in November. According to the affidavit, a physician who conducted a forensic assessment of the boy’s injuries at Dallas Children’s Hospital determined that the burns were not caused by diarrhea.
Gibson is currently being held in the Little River County jail on a motion to revoke a three-year probation he is serving in connection with a November 2023 assault on the mother of his two children. His bail in the probation case has been set at $150,000, the same amount set for him in the child abuse case filed this year.
Officials in Bowie County have placed a hold on Gibson in connection with the abuse alleged to have occurred in Texarkana, Texas. That means that if Gibson manages to post bond in Little River County, he will be transported to Bowie County to face charges.
Gibson pleaded guilty to terroristic threatening and domestic battery in Little River County in June 2024 and was sentenced to 36 months probation, court records show. Gibson attacked the mother of his two children – now ages 5 and 3 years – at her home on Nov. 7, 2023, while the children were with relatives at a residence down the road, according to court records.
Gibson slapped, hit, kicked and held a pistol to the head of the mother of his children, according to records in that case.
Gibson’s case in Little River County has been assigned to Circuit Judge Tom Cooper. He is scheduled to appear in court in Arkansas later this month. Clayton Tinkes is the attorney of record listed for Gibson in Little River County.
Allgor faces two to ten years in a Texas prison if convicted of injury to a child by omission for failing to seek medical care for her son in November. If convicted of child endangerment for failing to seek medical care for the boy in December, she faces six months to two years in a Texas state jail.
Allgor’s case has been assigned to 102nd District Judge Jeff Addison. No attorney of record is listed for her in Bowie County.