CINCINNATI — A judge ruled that a teenager will be tried as an adult for the death of an 18-month old boy he is accused of repeatedly swinging against a wall because he was frustrated with the child's toilet training.
Derris Smith, 18, the live-in boyfriend of the child's mother, has been charged with murder. He was 17 on June 27, when authorities say he delivered the beating that led to Malakai Glenn's death four days later.
The boy's mother, 20-year-old Sasha Glenn, testified Wednesday that the impact of the child hitting the wall left drywall stuck to his head and cracked a wooden door.
"When I picked him up he put his arms around me," Glenn said. "He was staring at me for a minute with big eyes, then he went limp." The child never regained consciousness and died after being hospitalized at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.
Following the Wednesday hearing, Hamilton County Juvenile Court Judge Thomas Lipps said Smith should be tried as adult. The case will now go to a grand jury.
During the court hearing, Smith and his parents, who sat by their son, also cried. Glenn said she was folding laundry when she heard a "boom, a thump" and found Smith gripping the front of the toddler's pajama top. She said she took her son to the bathroom to wash the drywall off his head and that Smith told the boy "he needed to start listening."
When Glenn said the boy had had enough, Smith told her, "Don't tell me what to do," she testified. "He picked him up and hit his head on the wall" before dropping him on the bed.
Smith is being held in the Hamilton County Juvenile Detention Center on $500,000 bond. MagazineLane.com
Derris Smith, 18, the live-in boyfriend of the child's mother, has been charged with murder. He was 17 on June 27, when authorities say he delivered the beating that led to Malakai Glenn's death four days later.
The boy's mother, 20-year-old Sasha Glenn, testified Wednesday that the impact of the child hitting the wall left drywall stuck to his head and cracked a wooden door.
"When I picked him up he put his arms around me," Glenn said. "He was staring at me for a minute with big eyes, then he went limp." The child never regained consciousness and died after being hospitalized at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.
Following the Wednesday hearing, Hamilton County Juvenile Court Judge Thomas Lipps said Smith should be tried as adult. The case will now go to a grand jury.
During the court hearing, Smith and his parents, who sat by their son, also cried. Glenn said she was folding laundry when she heard a "boom, a thump" and found Smith gripping the front of the toddler's pajama top. She said she took her son to the bathroom to wash the drywall off his head and that Smith told the boy "he needed to start listening."
When Glenn said the boy had had enough, Smith told her, "Don't tell me what to do," she testified. "He picked him up and hit his head on the wall" before dropping him on the bed.
Smith is being held in the Hamilton County Juvenile Detention Center on $500,000 bond. MagazineLane.com
