Oklahoma far, der dræbte sin 9-måneders-gamle søn efter at have slået barnets gravide mor får liv i fængsel

Hunter Smiley was supposed to be watching his 9-month-old son on April 10, 2024, in a house in Newcastle, Oklahoma. When police arrived the baby was not responding. He died two days later, on April 12, of injuries that included hemorrhaging behind the eyes and severe bleeding in the brain. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation and Cleveland County District Attorney Greg Mashburn said Smiley was the adult in charge when those injuries were inflicted. He was arrested April 15 and charged with first-degree murder. Bond was set at $5 million.

"Dette er et dybt tab af et ungt liv", Mashburn sagde. "For at bringe dette stumme offers sag for retten, er vi dedikeret til energisk retsforfølgelse".

Barnet var ikke Smileys første offer i den familie. I januar 2023 blev han arresteret for husligt overfald og batteri efter at have angrebet barnets mor, mens hun var gravid. KFOR reported he pleaded guilty that June to hitting her with pieces of a door he had smashed after a night of drinking. A McClain County judge gave him a deferred 13-month probation set to expire in July 2024 and a no-contact order. The mother later asked that the order be lifted so he could “be involved in the birth of the child.” He was still on that probation when the infant was killed.

En jury, så livet

In October 2025 a McClain County jury convicted Smiley, then 26, of first-degree murder. On December 4, 2025, a judge sentenced him to life with the possibility of parole. The deferred sentence on the earlier beating was already a dead letter. The system had watched him put hands on a pregnant woman, put him on probation, let the protective order get vacated, and then met him again over a dead 9-month-old.

AEGIS Alliancen dækkede en anden Oklahoma grusomhed sag samme uge: to mænd, der Indpakket en sovende indsat i toiletpapir og sætte ham i brand i Ottawa County fængsel. For den længere rekord i forbrydelser mod børn, se at gemme sig i det fri og vores Kriminalitet Nyheder Det er et skrivebord. Yderligere domfældelse dækning er i Nyheder 9.