TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A man has been charged in the death of a 1-year-old in Tampa, according to police.
The Tampa Police Department said officers responded to an apartment on Woodville Street just before 3 p.m. on Aug. 1 after getting a call about a toddler who was not breathing. The child would later be pronounced dead after being taken ot Saint Joseph’s Hospital.
Further investigation found that the child was in the care of Terin Smith, 28, while the toddler’s mother was at work.
Detectives said a witness told police that Smith hit the child for being “whiny” while giving the toddler a bath. After the bath, Smith put the child into a crib.
According to the department, other children in the home noticed that the child was not responsive and rushed the toddler to another apartment unit to ask for an adult’s help.
Police said Smith left the scene before they got there.
The Hillsborough County Medical Examiner’s Office said the child had head injuries and injuries to the abdomen.
Officers would not apprehend Smith until Sunday, Aug. 21, when he was arrested in Clarksville, Tennessee, on a charge first degree murder while engaged in aggravated child abuse, according to police.