NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A Tennessee man is facing a criminal homicide charge in connection with the beating death of a toddler last week.
According to WZTV and WTVF, officers with the Metro Nashville Police Department arrested Rozelle Westmoreland, 33, on Tuesday, four days after authorities found a 2-year-old boy unresponsive at a North Second Street home Friday. The boy, who died Saturday at a nearby hospital, suffered skull and rib fractures, brain bleeding and internal injuries that were consistent with abuse, an autopsy found.
Police said Westmoreland, who was initially arrested on a probation violation, admitted to investigators that he had struck the child multiple times and pushed him “into the side of a bathtub” in the home, WTVF reported. Westmoreland then dressed the child, put him to bed and left without seeking medical care for the boy, the affidavit said.
Westmoreland, who is scheduled to appear in court Thursday, remains jailed without bond, according to WZTV.
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