A pregnant Pennsylvania mother and her boyfriend are facing murder charges in the death of the woman's 4-year-old son.
4-year-old Tahjir Smith died in January after a “violent, sustained beating” for spilling his cereal, prosecutors say. His 19-year-old mother, Lisa Smith, and her 26-year-old boyfriend, Keiff King, are facing first-degree murder charges. pic.twitter.com/2so6fdz7KB
— Anita Oh (@anita_oh) April 6, 2018
According to The Associated Press and KYW-TV, Lisa Smith, 19, and Keiff King, 26, of Willow Grove, were charged with first-degree murder after authorities said the pair repeatedly struck Smith's son, Tahjir, with their hands and a sandal on Jan. 22 because he had spilled cereal. The boy also was burned after King allegedly forced him to get into an extremely hot shower, WPVI reported.
Keiff King and Lisa Smith charged in the death of 4 yo Tahjir Smith. The 2 are accused of beating the boy to death for spilling his cereal yesterday. Details in my live report at 6. pic.twitter.com/iTKsHuyZzf
— Chad Pradelli (@chadpradelli) January 23, 2018
The charges came last week after officials received autopsy results.
"The forensic pathologist's determination that Tahjir's death was homicide shows what detectives found in our investigation – that this was a violent, sustained beating of a 4-year-old that caused his death," Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said Friday, according to WPVI.
Officials also said the boy had been living in "deplorable" conditions among roaches and other insects, KYW reported.
Smith and King "are not eligible for bail," the AP reported.
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