Something was wrong when mom kissed her toddler goodnight. Now her boyfriend's in jail

A 3-year-old Tacoma boy died Wednesday, while the man accused of hurting him was in jail.

Jeremiah Horton died from blunt force injury to his head, and his death was a homicide, the Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office said Friday.

The boy died at Mary Bridge Children's Hospital in Tacoma, about a week after he was taken there for his injuries.

His mother's boyfriend, 26-year-old Mark Anthony Brown Jr., was ordered held in lieu of $1 million bail after he was charged June 29 with first-degree child assault, to which he pleaded not guilty at arraignment.

Prosecutors expect to make a decision soon about amending the charge, in light of the boy's death.

Charging papers give this account of what happened:

Brown was watching Horton and the boy's 4-year-old brother while their mother was at work June 25.

She got home in the early hours of June 26, and kissed the boys goodnight.

That's when she noticed something wasn't right. Horton's body was stiff, and he started to shake.

She woke up Brown, and they took the boy to the hospital.

He was immediately intubated, and doctors said he was unlikely to survive.

Trauma he suffered to the head was the result of abuse, the doctors said, and might have been caused by violent shaking or by hitting a surface.

They also noted the child had bruises on his thighs, and a detective noted some were the same shape as Brown's belt buckle.

The boy's brother described the 3-year-old throwing up at Brown's house, and shaking. He also said the toddler got into trouble because he "pooped on himself," and that Brown hit the 3-year-old with his belt.

Brown told investigators the boy did poop in his pull-up, but said he was not frustrated with the child and had not hurt him.

He said he'd made the boys dinner, they watched a movie, he gave them baths and then they went to bed about 9 p.m.

The boy's mother, day-care workers and grocery store surveillance footage indicated Horton was OK earlier in the day.

The mother told investigators the toddler was nonverbal, had been diagnosed as developmentally delayed and needed help with tasks such as getting dressed.

He'd been learning some sign language, she said.

This story was originally published July 6, 2018 at 4:36 PM.