An Alaska man allegedly killed his girlfriend’s baby daughter while trying to get her to sleep so he could play video games.
As reported by Alaska Public Media, Zackry Johnson, 31, has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the girl’s death following his arrest on Friday. Medics were called to a home on Friday morning in Fairbanks after the child’s mother attempted to wake the infant and found her unresponsive.
Johnson Told Investigators Child Sustained Injuries While ‘Play Fighting’ with 6-Year-Old Sister
The mother told police that she had left her kids at home the previous day with Johnson, her live-in boyfriend, so she could go to work, according to the Sacramento Bee.
The woman returned to the residence late and Johnson had said the baby was sleeping. However, when she went to check on the baby the next day, she found the baby deceased.
Investigators identified multiple injuries to the 1-year-old’s body that appeared consistent with an assault. In an interview with police, Johnson waived his Miranda rights and claimed that the child was “play fighting” with her 6-year-old sister.
But police told Johnson that the baby’s injuries were not consistent with his “two young siblings rough-housing” claim. He “ultimately admitted to causing multiple injuries and acknowledged using too much force against the child as he was trying to get her to take a nap so that he could play video games,” the Fairbanks Police Department said in a statement.
Johnson Charged with Second-Degree Murder
“He demonstrated several of the actions he used on the child and further acknowledged his actions likely led to the death of the girl,” police wrote in the statement.
Authorities are holding Johnson at the Fairbanks Correctional Center on a charge of second-degree murder for “knowingly engaging in conduct that resulted in the death of another person under circumstances manifesting an extreme indifference to the value of human life,” the police statement reads.
