NEW YORK (TCD) — A 31-year-old Bronx man was sentenced to up to a decade in prison for smothering his newborn son with a pillow because he kept crying.
The Bronx District Attorney’s Office announced a judge ordered Teshawn Watkins to spend five to 10 years behind bars, plus five years of post-release supervision for the death of 7-week-old Kaseem Watkins. Teshawn Watkins pleaded guilty in December to second-degree manslaughter. He also entered a plea for third-degree assault because he punched the child’s mother, his girlfriend, during her pregnancy.
The woman reportedly refused to testify against Watkins during his trial.
Watkins was initially charged in March 2020 with two counts of second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, second-degree manslaughter, two counts of criminal obstruction of breathing or blood circulation, first-degree reckless endangerment, second-degree attempted assault, endangering the welfare of a child and third-degree assault.
On Jan. 29, 2020, Watkins was at the apartment he shared with his girlfriend and their three children, and Kaseem Watkins began crying. The district attorney’s office said Watkins “became irate with the baby’s crying and placed pillows on the infant, blocking his nose and mouth.”
Watkins reportedly went to sleep, but when he woke up, he noticed the infant was unresponsive. Watkins’ girlfriend called 911 and the baby was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The autopsy report showed the child died from asphyxia due to smothering.
According to the statement, Watkins put pillows on his son’s head at least one other time between Dec. 9, 2019, and Jan. 29, 2020. Baby monitor video reportedly showed him “grabbing Kaseem by the head and spinning his head, causing the child’s body to flail into the air, and then covering the baby with pillows.”
Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said following the sentencing, “This child had barely begun his life when his father cruelly ended it, placing pillows on top of the tiny boy until he couldn’t breathe.”
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