Police in Virginia have arrested a father accused of strangling his infant son because he wouldn’t listen to him. Front Royal Police received a call about a 1-year-old in cardiac arrest and rushed to the scene. The baby’s mother was with him but reportedly told police she was working at the time of the injury while his father watched him. The man allegedly left the scene.
According to a news release the Front Royal Police Department posted on Facebook, officers tracked down 24-year-old Nathanial Lee Edmonds and took him to the station for an interview. The father allegedly confessed to killing his young son because he “couldn’t take it anymore.”
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The incident occurred in the afternoon.
According to police, they responded to a call in the 300 block of North Royal Avenue around 2:40 p.m. When they arrived, medics from Warren County Fire & Rescue were on the scene and about to transport the baby to the hospital. The baby was pronounced dead at the hospital.
According to court documents obtained by The Northern Virginia Daily, police spoke to the baby’s mother, who told them she was working and came home to find her baby hurt.
“The father, Nathaniel Edmonds, was nowhere to be found and, according to the mother, was supposed to be watching him,” the complaint reads. “In an interview at the hospital, the mother admitted that she was working while Edmonds was supposed to be watching him and she came home to her child and found him in the condition that she did.”
Police searched for Edmonds.
According to the complaint, Edmonds left the scene before the baby’s mother and emergency responders arrived. Police reportedly located the father on US 522 North at Fairground Road with the help of a location finder on the mother’s phone. Authorities took Edmonds in for an interview.
The father reportedly confessed.
According to the complaint, officers read Edmonds his Miranda rights, and he confessed to the crime.
“Edmonds was read his Miranda rights and confessed to choking his 1-year-old, using both of his hands for minutes because the child was not listening and he couldn’t take it anymore. Edmonds describes that this incident happened on the childs bed where he was ultimately found. Edmonds admitted to observing foam at the mouth of the child,” the complaint reads, the Daily reported.
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Police arrested Edmonds.
Officials charged Edmonds with second-degree murder and took him to the RSW Regional Jail. According to online records, he was being held without bond. The Daily reported that Edmonds has a prior domestic assault and battery charge from July 2023.
