Teen dad smothers 2-month-old daughter because he wanted to go to sleep, then tries to revive her by SHOCKING her with extension cord: Cops

An Arkansas teen is facing capital murder charges after last month’s smothering death of his infant daughter—who he reportedly tried to shock with an extension cord after she lost consciousness.

Police were reportedly called to a Van Buren home on June 12 following reports of an unresponsive baby. The 2-month-old at the home was transported to a hospital where she was pronounced dead.

A probable cause affidavit obtained by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette alleges that Tyler Eugene Buchanan, 19, initially told police that he fed the infant at 5:30 a.m. and went back to sleep. However, he reportedly later admitted to holding her to his shoulder to stop her from breathing because she was screaming and he wanted to go back to sleep. He told police that he knew what he was doing was wrong, the affidavit said.

The teen later woke up to find the 2-month-old not breathing, which led him to cut off the end of an extension cord and attempt to “shock” her back to life, according to the affidavit.

The affidavit also states that Buchanan confessed to smothering the infant at around 2 a.m.—but 911 wasn’t called for until 9 a.m., when the baby’s mother found Buchanan holding the unresponsive child.

The Times Record reports that Buchanan was charged with capital murder on Monday. In court documents acquired by the newspaper, Circuit Prosecuting Attorney Marc McCune accused Buchanan of displaying “extreme indifference to the value of human life.”

The Arkansas father remains jailed on $1 million bond. The Times Record reported Wednesday that no court dates have been set.

 

 

[Featured image: Tyler Eugene Buchanan, infant daughter/Facebook]