HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Authorities in Florida have charged a man with first-degree murder in connection with the fatal beating of his girlfriend’s son.
According to WTVT and WFTS, St. Petersburg police arrested Tyrone Covington, 40, on Monday, more than three months after the 8-year-old boy died at an area hospital on Oct. 23, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
In an Oct. 22 911 call, the child’s mother, who was Covington’s girlfriend, said her son was unresponsive and was having trouble breathing, the news outlets reported. The boy was taken to a nearby hospital and later flown to Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, authorities said. The child, who had suffered multiple contusions, lacerations, welts and scars, died the following day, according to WTVT and WFTS.
During the investigation, authorities learned that Covington had used a belt to beat the boy, the news outlets reported. After medical examiners ruled the child’s death a homicide, authorities issued an arrest warrant for Covington, according to WTVT.