Peeperann
Veteran Member
PLEASANT HILL, Mo. -- Prosecutors charged a 29-year-old man with second-degree murder in the death of a 3-year-old boy, according to court documents.
Javier Ruben Barker hit and kicked his girlfriend's son in a Pleasant Hill home, and he died as a result of his injuries, according to court documents.
His injuries included severe brain trauma, a skull fracture and contusions to his body, according to court documents.
He also suffered significant bruising and swelling of the exterior sides of both ankles, according to court documents.
Pleasant Hill police were called to the home on Eagle Drive after the boy's mother returned home from work, according to court documents.
The boy was found unresponsive on the floor of a bedroom and was rushed to Children's Mercy Hospital for treatment, according to court documents.
The mother had left him and her 5-year-old child in Barker's care while she worked overnight, and when she left for work at about 10:30 p.m. on Friday, the boy was uninjured, according to court documents.
The 5-year-old told police he saw Barker step on his younger brother's ankles and that Barker told him to go back into the living room and watch a movie that was playing, which he did, according to court documents.
The 5-year-old also told police that when Barker went back into the bedroom several times when his younger brother continued to scream and cry and he could hear Barker spanking his younger brother, according to court documents.
When the 5-year-old expressed concerned, Barker told him that he was not spanking the 3-year-old, according to court documents.
After Barker made several trips to the bedroom, the 5-year-old said his younger brother stopped crying and went to sleep, according to court documents.
Barker denied knowing about the 3-year-old's injuries, according to court documents.
Barker was being held in the Cass County Jail on Monday on a $250,000 bond, according to the Cass County Sheriff's Department.
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