Questions Raised After Theft of Potentially Life-Saving Generator

There are new details about the man accused of stealing a generator used to help keep a 7 month old infant alive.

His rap sheet is long, but he's never been to prison for his crimes.

"Couldn't ask for a better baby," said dad Jerred McDade of 7-month-old Dexter.

"He's always happy. He's got eyes and a smile that will light up a room," McDade said.

But Dex is sick. Born with a rare disease, he's had both kidneys removed and now requires 11 hours of dialysis every night to keep him alive.

In case of an outage, McDade installed this generator at their Saline County home, but last week it was stolen.

"At first you are mad, then you are just disappointed that someone would do that."

The person who did it, deputies say, is Donald Allen Higgins. He's now been charged with stealing several items, recovered only after Higgins himself drove them to the sheriff's office. Deputies say he was drunk and wanted to talk to them about an unrelated matter.

"God still has Dexter's back, has our back, he's still looking out," McDade said.

But while McDade's faith hasn't waivered, he's got questions for the legal system.

According to court documents obtained by KARK, Higgins has been arrested 14 times in the past two decades.

But while he was convicted on theft charges in 2003 and again in 2006.

Higgins received probation both times, he's never seen prison time.

 "I just pray for his sake he seeks forgiveness and tries to better his life," McDade said.

McDade hopes Higgins now gets real time behind bars, all the while knowing, there's just one thing that's important:

"Get to see that smile every morning," McDade said.

McDade says it would have been a burden to be without that generator.

The prosecutor told me within the hour that Higgins' probation has been revoked. He's being held on $77,000 bond.