Parents accused of murder after bruised infant dies
Inset: Ryan McMilleon (Columbus Police Department). Screenshot: Ariel Simmons during a court hearing (WTVM).
A 6-week-old boy is dead and his parents are in jail after Georgia cops determined they are responsible for his death.
The Columbus Police Department responded around 12:45 p.m. March 2 for a report of an infant suffering from bruises and not breathing, the agency said in a press release. Cops said the child was rushed to the hospital.
“The doctors advised nurses to stop CPR as the baby was already set in rigor mortis,” Columbus police Investigator Bethany Thompson said Friday during an emotional court hearing, according to local ABC affiliate WTVM.
Simmons openly wept as Thompson laid out the state’s evidence against her and her boyfriend.
Thompson reportedly noted that the boy was blue in the face and chest. The infant, who has not been publicly identified, had been sleeping with his parents, 27-year-old Ryan McMilleon and 31-year-old Ariel Simmons.
“Ryan stated that Ariel was still asleep when he had woken up, and he had asked where the baby was, looked over and noticed a blanket was over the baby’s head,” Thompson testified. “Ryan stated when the blanket was pulled off the baby, the baby was lying flat on a Boppy, a pillow used for nursing, and it was around the baby’s head.”
Simmons’ attorney Keyanna Marshall said it appears the death occurred when her client and McMilleon were co-sleeping with the infant.
“I think that it came out in court today that the bruises that the baby did get are consistent with co-sleeping. It was truly an accident,” Marshall told WTVM.
But complicating matters for McMilleon and Simmons is the fact that the infant came wrapped in a sweatshirt that contained a pill bottle with methamphetamine inside, cops allege. The bottle had Simmons’ name on it, according to police. Cops initially arrested McMilleon on possession of methamphetamine and Simmons on an outstanding warrant.
After more than two weeks of investigating, detectives arrested the parents on charges of second-degree murder and cruelty to children. Both remain at the Muscogee County Jail.
McMilleon’s mother told a judge her son would never intentionally hurt his child.
“He loved his kids very much,” she said.
