Father charged with first-degree murder in beating death of 2-year-old son, police say

By Breanne Bizette and Emily Van de Riet

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB/Gray News) – A father in Louisiana was charged with first-degree murder Tuesday following the death of his 2-year-old son.

Baton Rouge police said Anderson King, 25, told officers he beat his son Kyland King with a belt, an arrest warrant shows.

The investigation began when officers were called to Ochsner Hospital in Baton Rouge Sunday evening “in reference to a 2-year-old juvenile victim being severely beaten.”

When officers arrived, they learned that King brought his unresponsive son to the hospital where staff attempted life-saving measures but were unsuccessful. Kyland was pronounced dead at the hospital.

According to the arrest warrant, the arresting officer said Kyland had “numerous visible injuries” that were both “old and fresh” across his body.

Police said King initially told officers that Kyland fell down a flight of stairs a few days prior and had injured his eye and head. King said his son had “not acted the same” since the fall but admitted he had not sought medical attention for Kyland.

King told officers that Kyland became unresponsive Sunday evening, but instead of calling 911, he left Kyland and went to get the boy’s mother from work, the warrant states.

Since then, police said King admitted to officers that he beat his son with a belt.

The coroner has ruled Kyland’s death a homicide. Preliminary findings show the cause of death was multiple blunt force injuries.

https://www.wibw.com/2022/08/09/fath...outputType=amp