Nathaniel Lee Edmonds (Rappahannock-Shenandoah-Warren Regional Jail).
A Virginia father strangled his 1-year-old son and left the boy alone in his bed where his mother found him unresponsive after she came home from work, according to cops.
Nathaniel Lee Edmonds, 24, is facing a second-degree murder charge.
Police in Front Royal, which is about 70 miles west of Washington, D.C., responded around 2:40 p.m. on Sept. 18 to a 1-year-old boy in cardiac arrest at a home in the 300 block of North Royal Avenue, a press release said. Medics from the Warren County Fire & Rescue rushed the boy to Warren Memorial Hospital where doctors pronounced him dead.
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A probable cause arrest affidavit obtained by the Northern Virginia Daily said the boy’s mother left for work and put Edmonds in charge. When she returned home, she found the boy unresponsive on his bed and Edmonds was “nowhere to be found.” A phone locator placed Edmonds in north Front Royal and cops found him walking along U.S. 522 North at Fairground Road. They arrested him and took him in for an interview.
Post-Miranda, Edmonds reportedly admitted to choking his son “using both of his hands for minutes because the child was not listening and he couldn’t take it anymore.” He told cops he saw the boy foaming at the mouth, the affidavit reportedly said.
Police have not publicly released the boy’s name.
“Due to the ongoing and sensitive nature of the case, no further details will be released at this time,” the press release said.
Edmonds was arrested last year on domestic violence-related charges, the Daily reported. He remains at the Rappahannock-Shenandoah-Warren Regional Jail without bond. His next court hearing is scheduled for Dec. 19. Anyone with more information is asked to call the Front Royal Police Department at 540-636-2208.
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