Dad Allegedly Kills 1-Month-Old Son by Punching Him in Head After Losing at Video Game

Anthony Trice, 26, allegedly admitted the crime to investigators

Photo: Facebook

A Kentucky dad who allegedly punched his infant son in the head in frustration after losing a video game is now charged with murder in the child’s death.

Bail was increased on Monday to $1 million cash-only for the father, Anthony Trice, after his son died Sunday from his injuries, reports Louisville TV station WAVE.

The Louisville Metro Police Department says Trice, 26, was home alone Friday night with the infant and playing the video game and allegedly threw the control device after he lost, reports WDRB, WLKY and the Courier Journal.

Trice then allegedly struck the 1-month old in the head, police say.

The father then allegedly picked up the infant in an attempt to quiet him, but dropped the baby as he carried him into the kitchen to make a bottle. Afterward, police allege he propped the child in a seated position in a bedroom with a blanket and the bottle and stepped away to use the bathroom, but returned to find the child “in distress.”

The father then called 911.

The child, identified by a grandparent on a GoFundMe page as De’Anthony Trice, was taken to the hospital in serious condition and “lost his life on May 5, 2019,” according to the grandparent’s post. “None of us saw this coming and … we need help to [bury] my grandson. Please help our family with prayers and support. God bless you.”

On Saturday the father was arrested on a charge of first-degree criminal abuse of a child, later upgraded to murder after the infant died.

He pleaded not guilty in court Monday to both charges, according to WLKY.

Anthony Trice.

Authorities said Trice provided police with his account of the incident after waiving his Miranda rights.

“I’m mad,” the victim’s maternal grandmother, Tanjia Howlett, told WLKY. “I wouldn’t have ever thought this would happen to our family.”

• Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Click here to get breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases in the True Crime Newsletter.

The victim’s aunt, Ronika Tunstill, told the station that before she and the child’s mother had left the baby with Trice at his apartment before going out on Friday night, the father had been discussing a purchase of baby clothes.

“We were talking about the clothes that he got and what he was about to get him and stuff,” Tunstill said. “Everything was fine.”

After Trice placed the 911 call, Howlett said he called the child’s mother.

“He was like, ‘Get to the hospital. The baby was throwing up milk,'” Howlett told WLKY. “So, I told my daughter, ‘Why would he take the baby to the hospital for choking on baby milk?'”

An attorney who might speak on Trice’s behalf was not immediately identified.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.