A Springdale man charged with murder in the death of his infant stepson has been sentenced to six years in prison after reaching a plea deal with Washington County prosecutors, according to the county prosecutor’s office.
Tremelle Deshun Overton, 23, was arrested Aug. 1 after his two-month-old stepson was found not breathing, Springdale police said. He was subsequently charged with murder and placed in the Washington County Detention Center on $100,000 bond.
A report by the state medical examiner later found there was no medical evidence to suggest the baby was smothered. Without evidence against Overton, prosecutors decided to make a plea deal with Overton, according to the Washington County Prosecutor’s Office.
Overton pleaded guilty to felony endangering the welfare of a child and was sentenced to six years in prison, according to the prosecutor’s office.
The murder suspect’s trial was set to begin Jan. 28 but was delayed several times, according to court records.
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 preliminary 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 report.
