Keiff King, 26 years old and his girlfriend Lisa Smith, 19 allegedly killed Lisa’s 4-year-old child Tahjir, for spilling his breakfast.
The couple who stay at Willow Grove in Pennsylvania in the US, were picked up by police on Tuesday night. They face charges of attempted murder, aggravated assault and other crimes.
Lisa Smith and her boyfriend repeatedly punched the boy in the back of his head after he admitted to spilling his breakfast, then stripped him of all his clothes and took turns hitting his buttocks with a sandal.
Smith then tried to revive the boy after he peed on himself and stopped responding to the beatings.
“I placed him in the shower and blasted him with cold and hot water.” Smiths police statement read.
Smith then put the body back into clothes before going outside and calling 911 and making up a story why the boy was not responding.
Police reports stated that the living space of the family was dirty and crawling with cockroaches and other insects. Coroner reports indicated that the child had been beaten before to the point of having broken ribs.
Kevin Steele, Montgomery County District Attorney said: “The little boy was severely punished and beaten and then burned in a shower.”
He then added “Unfortunately, it looks like the child didn’t go through this the first time last night, It’s gonna be our time to stand up for a child who can’t speak for himself anymore.”
The couple are being held on a $500,000 bail and could be facing murder charges depending on the autopsy report. Preliminary hearings are scheduled for January 31st.
Smith is currently eight months pregnant as well.