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Police: Indiana Baby Beaten To Death By Mom’s Boyfriend

By Chelsea Hoffman
Published on: 05:45 PST, Jun 15, 2016

An Indiana baby is dead, and police say that the child’s father is responsible for what happened to him. Fox 59 News reports that 26-year-old Steven Filley has been arrested and charged in association with the violent death of 5-month-old Connor Filley. The details surrounding this tragic case are shocking, especially with claims from family members, who have given a graphic account of what happened to the infant.

The Lafayette Journal & Courier reports that Steven Filley, the mother’s boyfriend, has admitted to violently attacking the 5-month-old during a fit of rage. The incident reportedly took place on June 7, approximately a week ago. Authorities were called to the home inhabited by Filley, his son and the baby’s mother, Heather Guillon.

Loved ones of the slain infant have spoken to reporters, including the grandmother of the 5-month-old. The grandmother of Connor Filley shared an account of the attack, which ended in the death of the infant.

“He [Steven Filley] just continually kept getting frustrated because the baby would not calm down. So he smacked the baby across the face with his left hand. The baby still would not quit crying. At that point, he picked the baby up and slammed him against the wall.”

After the June 7 incident, the father of the Indiana baby called 911, claiming that the 5-month-old wasn’t breathing or moving. When authorities arrived, they found the little boy in a horrifying state. He was rushed to the Franciscan St. Elizabeth Hospital, where it was determined that he had bleeding on the brain, among other injuries associated with being beaten.

At first, Steven Filley denied being responsible for the injuries his son had suffered. He claimed that he woke up to find his son badly injured, which led him to call 911. However, he changed his story, claiming that he “must have blacked out,” when the child woke him up while being fussy. Then he told police that he “fell while holding” the boy, when he was rushing to call 911.

Ultimately, the Indiana dad admitted to police that he had slapped his son. He also admitted to shaking the five-month-old baby. He also told police that he “struck the baby in the head” shortly before he called 911 to report that the infant had gone unresponsive.

At the time of the incident, Filley faced charges associated with battery and child neglect. However, since the infant died in the hospital from injuries sustained during the violent event, those charges have been upgraded. The Indy Channel reports that the Indiana dad has been charged with aggravated battery and neglect of a dependent resulting in death. He’s also been charged with battery resulting in death to a person less than 14-years of age.

This isn’t the first time news of a child being beaten to death has gone viral. Earlier this year, a 4-year-old child was allegedly beaten to death for drinking her little brother’s juice. Inside Edition reports that the child’s mother and the 30-year-old woman’s boyfriend were behind the brutal beating.

Also recently, a Texas couple has been accused of beating a 13-month-old baby to death with a hammer. Their alleged motive? To “drive out demons,” that they believe had been possessing the baby.

According to Child Help, approximately 80 percent of child abuse fatalities are committed by the hands of the victim’s custodial parent. Furthermore, approximately 1,600 children die during incidents of child abuse, per year.

At this time, it’s hard to determine what’s in store for Steven Filley. Since he wasn’t charged with murder in the death of the Indiana baby, it’s not known if the death penalty will be on the table when this case goes to trial. The Indiana man is currently being held in Montgomery County Jail on bond in the amount of $100k.

[Photo via Montgomery County Jail]

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