A merciless Arkansas stepfather who allegedly tossed his 2-year-old stepson right into a pool repeatedly to show him tips on how to swim has been charged with the tot’s homicide.
Dakota Shawn Hays, 20, and his spouse Annastacia Atkins, 24, had been arrested on Monday over the kid’s loss of life from an absence of oxygen to the mind.
The pair, from Van Buren, face expenses of first-degree homicide, in response to an arrest warrant obtained by Individuals.
Hays was additionally charged with endangering the welfare of a kid whereas Atkins faces expenses of allowing the abuse of a minor, in response to on-line jail information from the Crawford County Sheriff’s Workplace.
The boy died on June 17, 2024, three days after Atkins and Hays known as 911 when he grew to become unresponsive after swimming in a pool at his aunt’s home, in response to an affidavit for warrant of arrest filed Jan. 2, the outlet reported.
When deputies arrived on the household dwelling on June 14, the little boy’s physique was freezing and his “eyes had been caught,” Atkins allegedly mentioned in response to the affidavit.
She mentioned his coronary heart and respiratory had stopped, and when she began pushing his chest, he choked up water, the doc said.
Hays informed officers he had been instructing the boy tips on how to swim, together with one other boy, 4, and a 6-year-old lady, in response to the affidavit.
Hays informed deputies that “the three children would dangle onto him on the chest and he would seize their noses and sink to the underside with them, sit there, and return as much as the floor,” in response to the affidavit.
However the 4-year-old informed detectives he had virtually drowned on account of Hays throwing him within the pool, the affidavit mentioned.
He added that Hays and Atkins would bodily punish him by hitting him with a stick on his head, knees and toes, as alleged within the affidavit.
The 6-year-old lady informed detectives that Hays pushed his stepson beneath the water, including that he “didn’t need to swim however Dakota would throw him within the pool,” per the affidavit.
She mentioned that Hays threw the toddler into the pool repeatedly and that she needed to typically “retrieve him from the underside.”
The boy’s post-mortem discovered he additionally suffered from “a number of traumatic accidents” to the top, face and torso, which had evidently occurred over an extended interval.
Atkins additionally “voiced concern” to deputies about Hays’ alleged aggressive conduct together with her son up to now, the affidavit states.
Hays is held within the Crawford County Jail on a $1 million bond, whereas Atkins is held on a $750,000 bond.
It’s unclear whether or not they have retained attorneys who can communicate on their behalf.
The Publish has reached out to the Crawford County Sheriff’s Workplace for remark.
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