A Florida man playing video games reportedly smothered his 6-year-old son to death on Christmas Eve because he wouldn’t go to bed.
According to reports, James Dearman told his 6- and 7-year-old kids to go to sleep at 7:30 pm on December 24. However, the children started running around the room instead.
Dearman’s girlfriend, Ashley Cole, told police that the man first told the boys to stand facing the wall. When he caught the 6-year-old boy watching the couple playing video games, Dearman apparently got angry. From there, Cole claimed Dearman — who weighs 270 pounds — made the boy lie on the couch with his face against the cushions, pinning him there while the child screamed that he couldn’t breathe. After five minutes, the boy stopped moving, WFLA reports.
At that point, the couple headed to the garage to smoke a cigarette. Upon returning, they reportedly noticed the boy was unresponsive and had blue lips. While Cole ran into the garage to pray, Dearman dialed 911 and performed CPR until help came. The boy was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.