Inset: Nathan Travis-Nunnally (Hopewell Police Department). Background: Hopewell Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court in Hopewell, Virginia (WTVR/YouTube).
A Virginia father is facing homicide and child abuse charges after authorities said he admitted shaking his 5-month-old son because he wanted the baby to stop crying.
Nathan Travis-Nunnally, 22, has been charged with felony homicide, child abuse and aggravated malicious wounding, according to the Hopewell Police Department.
At a preliminary hearing on Thursday, Oct. 15, prosecutors played a recorded phone conversation in which Travis-Nunnally allegedly described shaking his son, regional CBS affiliate WTVR reported.
The investigation began June 14, when emergency responders were called at approximately 10:40 a.m. to a home in the 4900 block of Oaklawn Boulevard in Hopewell, located roughly 20 miles south of Richmond.
Hopewell police and firefighters arrived to find the infant unresponsive. They provided emergency care before transporting him to a nearby hospital with what officials described as a life-threatening injury.
The child died five days later.
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Travis-Nunnally was subsequently arrested and taken to Riverside Regional Jail.
In the recording played for the court, Travis-Nunnally is heard speaking with the child’s uncle. “I just wanted him to be quiet,” he reportedly said. “I started screaming at him. I picked him up and then I shook him.”
Authorities said he also admitted telling the baby to “shut the f— up” because the child was irritable. According to the account presented in court, Travis-Nunnally said the boy then went limp, prompting him to seek help.
The baby’s mother told WTVR that she was serving a weekend jail sentence when her son was injured. She said she and Travis-Nunnally had been engaged but were no longer together.
The judge sent the charges to a grand jury, which is expected to review the case in December, the television station reported.
The post Father admitted to shaking his 5-month-old son before his death because he ‘just wanted him to be quiet’: Cops first appeared on Law & Crime.