Mom who 'looked away' as boyfriend punched her toddler son is charged with murder

On Thursday, a 1-year-old boy died at 11:45 p.m. at the Coliseum Northside Hospital in Georgia. An autopsy later revealed that the child had died from “head trauma.”

The child’s parents have since been arrested and an arrest warrant revealed that the father killed the little boy by punching him.

A’kym Malek Henderson, 21, and Jaimie Lynn Howard, 20, of Macon have been arrested after their child, King Henderson, 1, died last week. The little boy was taken to hospital where he died.

The Bibb County Sheriff’s Office said Henderson was arrested after deputies were summoned to the hospital at 1:13 a.m. on Friday. According to a news release by the sheriff’s office, King was found unresponsive by Howard who then took him to the hospital’s Emergency Room.

The release stated, “At the time the infant was seen by hospital staff there was no visible injury.” The hospital performed a GBI autopsy on King and found that he had a head injury.

Bibb County Deputy Coroner Lonnie Miley said the baby suffered “head trauma.” The release added, “After further investigation into the incident, it was discovered that the infant had been struck in the head by his father.”

Its alleged Howard was present during the beating but chose not to get medical attention for the boy until after he fell unconscious. The arrest warrant said she “chose to look away.”

The boy’s mother revealed that Henderson punched him in the head multiple times. The child ended up with multiple skull fractures, a swollen brain, and scalp hemorrhages.

Howard initially “attempted to cover up this incident by initially stating … ‘she was only woken up by the victim struggling to breathe.’” The couple’s friends shared that they appeared to be devoted to raising their son.

Howard's half-brother, Aaron Beaver said the parents “put that baby on a pedestal” and that they even stopped going out at night when he was born. He added: "She’s been heartbroken since it happened. She’s into herself."

The boy’s mother has apparently told family members she wants her son cremated. She’s requested that his ashes are put into an hourglass that she’ll wear around her neck.

Henderson and Howard are in prison without bond in Bibb County. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Bibb Sheriff’s Office at 478-751-7500 or call Macon Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-877-68CRIME.

Anyone who suspects child abuse can call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential.

In 2017, Liam Deane, 22, was convicted of murder after he admitted that he killed his daughter, Luna, on July 10 the same year, by shaking and punching her when she “would not stop crying.” Liam Deane, 22, was convicted of murder earlier this year after a court heard that he attacked the newborn child when she “would not stop crying”.

Deane was found dead in prison and another prisoner, John Westland, then-28, was charged with his murder. He appeared at the Leeds Magistrates court where he was remanded in custody.