Trial Reset for Man Accused of Killing Infant Stepson

The murder trial of a Springdale man accused of killing his infant stepson has been reset to begin March 11 in Washington Court Circuit Court, according to the Washington County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

Tremelle Deshun Overton, 23, was arrested Aug. 1 after his two-month-old stepson was found not breathing, Springdale police said.

Overton’s trial was set to begin Jan. 28 but was delayed to Thursday (Feb. 28), according to the Washington County Circuit Clerk.

The trial now has been rescheduled to begin in March, the prosecutor’s office said Thursday.

The boy was taken to Northwest Medical Center in Springdale, but died. Overton and the boy’s mother, Ashley Overton, initially told police the baby was in his bed and just stopped breathing, according to a preliminary report from the Washington County Prosecutor’s Office.

Later, when the mother was alone with police, she admitted there was more, the report states.

The mother said Overton was watching the child while she slept. When she woke, she found the baby strangely wrapped in a blanket in its crib. The blanket was wrapped tightly around the child’s head from the neck up, and had been folded and tucked underneath him, the report states.

The mother said she frantically unwrapped the child. He wasn’t breathing, according to the report.

She immediately called 911.

Overton was on parole at the time for beating Ashley Overton while she was pregnant with the boy, according to the report. The couple had an argument the night before the baby’s death, and she told Overton she was going to leave him, according to the preliminary report.

Overton was booked into the Washington County Detention Center on $100,000 bond.