The former Southeastern Conference football player charged in the death of his girlfriend’s 4-year-old son reportedly told police that he found the child unresponsive after hearing a “loud thump.”
Steven Terrence Singleton, a former football standout at Buford High School and college player at both LSU and South Carolina, was booked into the Gwinnett County jail around 5 p.m. Wednesday. The 26-year-old was charged with felony murder and first-degree cruelty to children in connection with the death of 4-year-old Tye Hardin, who was taken off life support Monday.
Arrest warrants obtained Wednesday by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution accused Singleton of “inflicting fatal brain injuries” against the youngster, and Gwinnett County police released more details Thursday.
Cpl. Michele Pihera said Singleton was babysitting Tye at his Club Lakes Parkway apartment Saturday night while the child’s mother, Singleton’s girlfriend, went to her home to “get ready for an event later that evening.” The mother was driving back to Singleton’s apartment when she got a phone call.
“Singleton told her that something was wrong with Tye and that she needed to hurry up,” Pihera said. “When she arrived at Singleton’s home, she found him in the bathroom with her son. Tye was carried to the sofa in the living room, and 911 was called.”
The couple decided not to wait for an ambulance and took the child to an urgent care facility instead. That facility called 911 and, according to Pihera, the child had no brain activity and was placed on life support when he finally arrived at a hospital.
Tye was taken off life support at about 3 a.m. Monday.
Police said Singleton offered an explanation of the night’s events that was “inconsistent” with Tye’s injuries, which included bruises on the right side of his forehead, on his right cheek, on the right side of his chest and under his right arm.
Singleton reportedly told police he was getting ready in a bathroom while Tye was “sitting in a chair in the living room eating some food and watching TV.” Singleton said he heard a loud “thump” before going into the living room and finding Tye “on the floor lying on his back unresponsive.”
Singleton reportedly told police that the child’s eyes were rolled back and that he had “wet and soiled” clothes.
“He said that as he was carrying Tye to the bathroom, he accidentally hit Tye’s head on the wooden door frame,” Pihera said.
Singleton was arrested Wednesday following an interview at Gwinnett County police headquarters, Pihera said. He is being held without bond.
Singleton graduated from Buford High School, where he made The AJC’s Super Southern 100, in 2006. He began his college career at LSU before reportedly becoming homesick and attending Georgia Military College in Milledgeville. He landed at South Carolina in 2009.
In the days before his arrest, Singleton posted multiple times on Facebook about Tye, who he called his “little buddy.”
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