London: A 270 pound Florida man has been charged with manslaughter after allegedly sitting on his six-year-old son and crushing him to death while he played a video game on Christmas Eve.
The dead boy’s seven-year-old sibling witnessed the incident and, according to an affidavit, told investigators: “When dad squished him, he got dead.” Police said that James “Rick” Dearman and his girlfriend, Ashley Cole, told detectives the couple had told the two children to go to bed at 7.30 pm, WFLA reported. But Mr Dearman allegedly bec-ame angry because the youngsters would not go to sleep. Ms Cole said Mr Dearman ordered both children to stand facing the wall, but he noticed the six-year-old boy watching the couple play video games. Mr Dea-rman then pinned the boy with his bodyweight to the couch so that he was facing the rear cushions.
Detectives said he continued to play video games while ignoring the boy’s screams that he could not breathe. When the couple noticed that the boy looked lifeless, Mr Dearman called 911 and attempted to revive him. Paramedics arrived at the house in Englewood and took the boy to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
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