A common guideline for disciplining kids is the old adage "The punishment should fit the crime." Sadly, many caregivers lash out physically in anger when a child makes a mistake. Some of these instances of abuse end in tragedy with a life lost.
An Arkansas man recently pleaded guilty to a crime he committed in 2022. Nathan Bridges admitted to drowning his girlfriend's 5-year-old son while punishing him, and the details are horrific.
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Nathan Bridges has been sentenced to 60 years in prison.
On July 15, Bridges pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and first-degree battery, according to a news release from the Arkansas State Police. His plea was in connection to the 2022 death of Blu in Lee County, Arkansas. Bridges was given a prison sentence of 60 years.
Blu's body was found in December 2022.
Police found Blu's body On December 16, 2022, under floorboards of his home in Moro, Arkansas. It would have been his sixth birthday. At the time, a police affidavit noted it was believed the boy "died from injuries sustained in the home, possibly three months ago."
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Later, Blu's cause of death was deemed a drowning.
An arrest affidavit revealed that Blu drowned in a toilet in the home, People reported. The boy's mother, Ashley Rolland, 30, originally told deputies that her son wasn't home when they arrived to carry out a civil standby. She later told her father, however, that Blu died and his body was under floorboards of the home.
The mother confessed her boyfriend drowned the 5-year-old after the boy bit him.
Although Rolland told her father that Blue "collapsed and died," she told detectives a different story. Rolland claimed her son actually died in September after he bit Bridges' finger," according to People. Bridges then punished him by repeatedly sticking his head in a toilet until he drowned.
Meanwhile, Rolland still faces charges.
Although Bridges has been sentenced, Blu's mother's case is still in progress, and she faces multiple felony charges. They include capital murder, permitting child abuse, abuse of a corpse, endangering the welfare of a minor, tampering with physical evidence, and battery, according to the most recent news release from the Arkansas State Police.
