A former Bensalem, Pennsylvania resident who spent two years in state prison for abusing his infant son is now charged with the boy’s murder after police say complications from the injuries he inflicted more than a decade ago caused the boy’s death. Kyle Hinkle, 38, who now lives in Allentown, was charged Monday with third-degree murder in the death of his son, Leonardo, who was 11 when he died in August 2024.
After the child’s death was ruled a homicide earlier this year, investigators in Bucks County spent months gathering medical records and other evidence to link it to the injuries he received as an infant.
Hinkle remained in custody, in lieu of 10% of $2 million bail. There was no indication he had hired an attorney.
Investigators first learned of the abuse in October 2012, when the boy was taken to Jefferson Torresdale Hospital with severe head injuries, according to the affidavit of probable cause for Hinkle’s arrest.
Doctors there determined the injuries had been intentionally inflicted to the then-3-month-old, and a CAT scan revealed signs of similar, older injuries that were still healing, the affidavit said.
The boy’s grandmother told detectives that on an earlier occasion, she had seen bruises on the child’s arm that matched a necklace Hinkle used to wear, indicating he may have struck the boy with it.
In an interview with detectives, Hinkle admitted he shook the baby vigorously without supporting his head out of frustration because he would not stop crying.
The injuries left the child wheelchair-bound, nonverbal, and reliant on a feeding tube, according to prosecutors.
Hinkle pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of a child in 2013. He served two years in state prison, followed by three years of probation, court records show.
In the intervening years, the boy and his mother moved to Oliver, Fayette County, southeast of Pittsburgh.
When the child died in 2024, the Fayette County coroner ruled his death a homicide, saying, in a statement, that complications from living with Shaken Baby Syndrome directly led to his death.
-by Vinny Vella
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