Authorities in Iowa say a 31-year-old man is facing criminal charges related to the death of a young boy in his care recently.
According to the New York Post, Larry Murphy was staying in a hotel room in Council Bluffs with the 2-year-old victim and the boy’s mother at the time of the fatal incident.
Police allege Murphy was irate on Friday morning after the boy reportedly took his cellphone, according to the Des Moines Register. In response, the 6-foot-tall 160-pound suspect is accused of sitting on the boy, pressing him into the hotel room bed for about 20 seconds.
When Murphy got up, the boy was unresponsive and was transported to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead a short time later, according to reports from the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office.
A doctor at the hospital reportedly found signs on the boy consistent with asphyxiation.
According to a criminal complaint, the victim’s mother “said her son initially was moaning during this and then became quiet,” adding that she assumed the boy “was going to go back to sleep as Larry covered him up with the bed comforter and left the room to pay their motel rent.”
Murphy was arrested on Friday and jailed with bail set at $1 million. He remained behind bars as of the latest updates available and is expected to face criminal charges including first-degree murder and child endangerment resulting in death.
[Featured image: Larry Murphy, Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Office]
