A Nevada man charged with killing his girlfriend’s toddler son three years ago has agreed to plead guilty to first degree murder and assault on a protected person.

Terrell Rhodes appeared in court Thursday to enter his plea and faces 20 years to life on the murder charge, KLAS reported. Judge Jacqueline Bluth set a sentencing date of July 30 and told attorneys they could argue at that time whether the sentence on the murder charge and the assault charge should be served consecutively or concurrently.

Rhodes was initially charged with first degree murder in 2-year-old Amari Nicholson’s death, but then he was hit with 10 more felonies after he grabbed a detective’s gun while being interviewed on May 11, 2021, as CrimeOnline reported.

Tayler Nicholson, Amari’s mother, left the boy with Rhodes while she travelled to Colorado to tend to her mother, who had undergone surgery. Rhodes and Nicholson reportedly fought frequently during the trip, and Nicholson broke up with Rhodes by text on May 3.

On May 5, Rhodes called Nicholson to say an aunt had taken the boy that morning, and she called police to report Amari had been kidnapped. According to the arrest affidavit, police first thought the case was “a civil matter over a possible child custody dispute.”

After a frantic search, police confronted Rhodes with a bag of soiled boy’s clothing and blood on the walls of his apartment, prompting his confession that he became angry when Amari urinated on himself and “struck Amari approximately three to four times in the body with a closed fist. At some point, Amari turned blue and purple in the face and stopped breathing.”

Detectives later found the boy’s body in a shallow grave.

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[Featured image: Amari Nicholson/Family Handout]