Two Arkansas residents face charges after a 1-year-old child was found dead in the closet of an apartment bedroom where they slept, authorities say.
Tyler Hobbs, 21, of Farmington was arrested on a charge of first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse. The child's mother, 21-year-old Maria Giron-Molina of Decateur, faces a charge of abuse of a corpse.
Hobbs and Giron-Molina remained at the Washington County jail as of Tuesday afternoon in lieu of $750,000 bond and $500,000 bond, respectively.
Around 6 p.m. Monday, the Fayetteville Police Department responded to Foxborough Apartments, 920 North Leverett Ave., in reference to a dead child, according to a statement.
Hobbs told dispatchers that the baby fell down the stairs "a few days" earlier and started seizing. Hobbs then tried to provide medial attention but could not revive the child, he said.
Authorities believe the child died Oct. 15, Fayetteville police spokesman Sgt. Anthony Murphy said.
At the apartment, officers discovered the child's body in an "advanced state of decomposition inside a plastic container that was covered with blankets."
During an interview, Hobbs told officers that the child had been crying uncontrollably while he had a headache. The child then knocked a picture frame and lamp off a bedside table, he said.
Hobbs said that out of anger, he picked the child up and covered the infant’s mouth with his hand to “muffle” the crying.
When the child hit and scratched him, Hobbs shook the baby back and forth, according to authorities.
Hobbs reportedly blacked out and later “came to," finding that the child was not breathing, the statement reads. He admitted to being under the influence of marijuana at the time.
The child’s body has been sent to the state Crime Laboratory to determine cause of death.
An investigation into the death is ongoing.
Read Wednesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
