Court documents alleged that Heiden was watching the toddler at a Two Rivers home on April 26 when he hit the boy with a sandal and "forcefully shook him hard while yelling at him to go to sleep," the Herald Times reported. Emergency crews later responded to a report of an unresponsive child at the home and found the boy dead, authorities said.
Police said that after they arrested Heiden, he said he "didn't care" about the boy because Gilbert wasn't his child, according to the Herald Times.
It will be at least 25 years before Heiden is eligible for parole, the newspaper reported.
Two other adults, Rena Santiago and Bianca Bush, also face child abuse-related charges in the case, the Herald Times reported. Gilbert was Santiago's son.
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