A Houston father is being charged with murder after allegedly beating his 2-year-old son to death during potty training.
According to Harris County’s Sheriff’s Office, Antonio Hicks Sr. was taken into custody after he told the police that he lost his temper while trying to potty train his son and hit him a few times.
Hicks was initially charged with injury to a child, but the charges were upgraded to murder after the toddler died at the hospital on July 25.
According to KHOU11, Hicks lied to deputies and said that he and his son were attacked by a stranger while taking a walk.
Investigators stated that Hicks later admitted that he hit the toddler in the chest “too hard.”
The child’s mother told deputies that she heard multiple slaps that eventually turned into hard punches from a different room. When the mother went to see what was going on, she found her toddler unresponsive.
Hicks is currently being held on a $250,000 bond.
