(AP) -- SENECA, Mo. (AP) -- A southwest Missouri man has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of his girlfriend's 22-month-old son.
The Joplin Globe (http://bit.ly/LZDmQy) reported that the Newton County prosecutor filed the charge Saturday against Zachary Roland. The 20-year-old Seneca man is jailed on a $1 million bond.
Newton County Sheriff Ken Copeland says the toddler's mother called 911 Thursday to report her son wasn't breathing. Emergency workers rushed the boy from his Seneca-area home to a Joplin hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Copeland says Roland told investigators that the boy began crying while they were showering together, so he picked him up and hit him. Roland said the boy then fell and landed on his head.
It's not immediately known if Roland has an attorney.
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Information from: The Joplin Globe, http://www.joplinglobe.com
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