Georgia father gets life sentence for murder of son he called a ‘cry baby’

Ortiz Deion Smothers Jr.

Credit: The Macon Telegraph

Credit: The Macon Telegraph

Ortiz Deion Smothers Jr.

A Middle Georgia man has been sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole for the 2017 death of his 4-month-old son, the Macon Telegraph reported.

Ortiz Deion Smothers Jr., 23, of Perry, pleaded guilty to felony murder in Houston County Superior Court, according to the newspaper.

Smothers posted on Facebook that his son was a “cry baby” and he wanted to get some sleep just hours before his child suffered skull fractures, the newspaper reported.

Omar Smothers was found unresponsive the morning of June 12, 2017, and taken to a hospital, the Telegraph reported. The father was the only person taking care of the boy that day.

The child was declared brain dead and taken off life support the next day, the Telegraph reported.

The skull fractures were found to be the result of multiple impacts to the boy’s head, and authorities ruled out that the injuries could have been accidental, the newspaper reported.

Smothers will have to serve a minimum of 30 years in prison before he can be considered for parole.

In other news: