A Huron County jury found a 77-year-old Pigeon man guilty of fourth-degree child abuse for an incident at the Bad Axe Walmart last year.
On Tuesday, August 12, a Huron County jury found Russell Alexander Kopah guilty of Fourth-Degree Child Abuse for placing Murphy’s concentrated floor cleaner into the mouth and on the face of a three-year-old child at a Bad Axe store. The jury acquitted Kopah of a separate charge of witness intimidation, which alleged he threatened the eyewitness three weeks later.
The child abuse occurred on July 8, 2024, at the Bad Axe Walmart, where Kopah was shopping with the child and the child’s mother in the photo department. Testimony and video evidence showed that Kopah opened a bottle of Murphy’s concentrated floor cleaner, dipped his finger inside, placed it in the child’s mouth, and rubbed the cleaner on the child’s face.
A store employee witnessed the act, and contacted law enforcement. The jury also heard testimony that three weeks later, Kopah returned to the store, told the witness “You’re the snitch,” and then allegedly made a threat against the witness.
The bottle of Murphy’s cleaner had a warning label on it to keep the bottle out of the reach of children and if it was ingested to drink water and then seek medical assistance.
Kopah testified in his own defense, denying that he placed the cleaner on the child, that he was just implying it. Regarding the alleged intimidation, he denied making a threat inside the store but admitted that when the witness followed him outside [to identify the defendant’s vehicle], he threatened to run him over, stating he was “old school” and not speaking rhetorically.
Sentencing is scheduled for Monday, October 27, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. before the Honorable Gerald M. Prill. Fourth-Degree Child Abuse is a misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail.
Kopah remains free on bond pending sentencing.
