A 23-year-old Michigan man has been arrested for slamming his girlfriend’s one-year-old son to the ground several times.
Alex John Radulovic was arrested on Tuesday and charged with first-degree premeditated murder and first-degree child abuse following the death of little Alexander ‘Xan’ Butler.
According to the probable cause affidavit obtained by local media, the suspect was left alone with the toddler at their home in the city of Grand Rapids in the US state of Michigan on the morning of 5th February.
The child’s mother Alissa Butler left home for her new job at around 5.45am and by 9am, the emergency services had been called to the home on reports of an unresponsive baby who was not breathing.
Paramedics provided first aid at the scene, describing little Alexander as having “purple lips”, before taking him to a nearby hospital, where he died shortly after arrival.
After reportedly offering the police contradicting accounts of that morning, the suspect admitted to killing the boy out of frustration.
Radulovic told the police that he was kneeling down when he grabbed the toddler’s chest and slammed him to the floor two or three times.
Instead of calling the emergency services, the suspect allegedly placed the tot back in his cot and went for a walk, according to the affidavit.
Radulovic met with Arian Wolak, who returned to the property with him and heard the tot groaning. He went to check and reportedly found little Alexander with “severe bruising around his head and purple lips”.
The suspect then called 911.
When asked why he allegedly slammed the toddler to the floor several times, Radulovic is quoted as telling officers that the victim’s “fussiness, crying, and irritability” caused him to lose control.
He said he was angry that his partner left him alone with the toddler when he “gets like that”, adding that he “got upset and accidentally did the wrong thing”.
Radulovic is reportedly being held in custody without bond. His lawyer said he has requested counselling for mental health issues and is “claiming innocence”.