A 36-year-old Pennsylvania man is accused of beating and smothering a 2-year-old Wilson Borough boy who died while the man was trying to get the boy to sleep, according to the Northampton County District Attorney’s Office and a grand jury presentment.
James Wyant was charged Friday morning with criminal homicide in connection with the boy’s death in August 2021. His listed address is in Pennsburg.
Wilson Borough police responded about 2:15 a.m. August 15, 2021, to a home of a relative where James Wyant was living in the 2200 block of Forest Street, the district attorney’s office said.
The 2-year-old had extensive bruises across the left side of the face and wasn’t breathing, police said. The boy was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital in Wilson Borough where he was pronounced dead at 3:03 a.m., the district attorney’s office said.
An autopsy determined the boy died from battered child syndrome with smothering, the district attorney’s office said. An investigative grand jury issued a presentment recommending charges against Wyant.
Wyant met the child’s mother in July 2021 on a dating application, court papers say. He slept over with the woman and her son on July 30, July 31, August 13 and August 14, according to court records. The presentment includes text messages and comments indicating Wyant’s frustration with getting the boy to sleep and indicating he wanted to assume responsibility for putting the boy to bed.
They all slept in the same bed July 30 and July 31 in the third-floor bedroom of Wyant’s mother’s home in Wilson, court papers say. The mother put the baby to bed both nights, court papers say.
On Aug. 5, Wyant texted one of his three children that “Next time I see (the baby) I’m going to hang him upside down/And drop him lol.”, court papers say. When asked why, Wyant responded, “Not yr bother lol/No I’m just kidding.”, court papers say.
In preparing for the August 13 sleepover, Wyant insisted he would put the 2-year-old to bed.
” … he will get spanked if he doesn’t listen to me,” Wyant wrote in a text to the girlfriend. “There will be no giving in,” he later added.
Wyant texted the girlfriend at 12:52 a.m. August 14 saying the baby was sleeping, court papers say.
At 1:55 a.m., Wyant texted the woman that the boy “just bit me when I was rubbing his face so he got smacked,” court papers say. At 2:08 a.m., Wyant texted the woman that the baby “just fell out of bed because he thinks it’s time to play,” court papers say.
The woman came up to the bedroom and found the red-cheeked baby sitting on the bed, court papers say. Wyant said he struck the baby on the “butt” after the biting, court papers say.
The boy denied he bit Wyant, and Wyant then told his girlfriend the boy was jumping on the bed and fell off, records say.
When the woman awoke several hours later, there was “significant bruising on the victim’s face,” court papers say. Wyant maintained the baby fell out of bed, court papers say.
While working that afternoon at a Nazareth-area convenience store, Wyant said he again wanted to put the baby to bed because, “I need quality time with him,” court papers say.
The boy would die after the following overnight stay, records say. Wyant initially claimed the boy fell out of bed but a fall of 18 inches from the bed would not cause the kind of bruising found on the baby’s face, court papers say. Blood was in the center of the bed but not on the bed frame, court papers say.
Wyant was performing CPR when paramedics arrived. A responding Suburban EMS paramedic said Wyant’s efforts to resuscitate the baby were “wholly inadequate,” court papers say. Wyant previously served as an EMT and had trained the responding paramedic in CPR, the court papers say.
Later speaking with a Northampton County Children, Youth and Families caseworker, Wyant denied the baby fell out of bed, court papers say. He told the caseworker the bruising was from a previous fall in New Jersey and that it wasn’t his idea to put the baby to bed, court papers say.
The chief of child protective medicine at Lehigh Valley Reilly Children’s Hospital testified the bruising was patterned and came from “significant adult force,” court papers say. A fall from such a height “did not account for the bruising,” the doctor told the grand jury, court papers say.
On August 15, the day the boy died, Wyant texted at 1:32 a.m. that the baby was sleeping but when the mother heard the baby crying soon after, Wyant texted that the baby “just woke up crying” and several minutes later texted that “he’s almost in a deep sleep,” court papers say.
Wyant had fallen asleep with the baby, whose head was covered by a blanket because “that’s how (the baby) sleeps,” Wyant allegedly said.
At some point, Wyant went to the second floor to use the bathroom and said he heard a “thud,” court papers say. When he got back to the bedroom, Wyant said blood was “pouring” from the boy’s nose, court papers say.
At 2:16 a.m., Wyant texted for the woman to “get up here” and seconds later texted that the baby “fell off the bed,” court papers say.
Wyant told the grand jury that he didn’t see any bruising other than a hematoma on the right side of the baby’s forehead which Wyant said he had first seen on Aug. 1, court papers say. A photo of the baby from August 11 showed no such injury, court papers say.
“The grand jury found Wyant’s testimony contradictory, confounding, and not credible,” court papers say.
As for the smothering part of the cause of death, the doctor who performed the autopsy said, “A child can lose consciousness within ten to twenty seconds of being smothered if the airway is completely blocked and death can result shortly thereafter,” court papers say.
The bruising was “highly suspicious for child abuse” and “those injuries were inflicted over an 18-hour period,” Dr. Zhongxue Hua testified, court papers say.
“A fall from that height onto a bed rail would not have caused the victim’s injuries and/or death,” Hua testified.
Wyant surrendered Friday morning at Yetter’s office. He was charged with one count of criminal homicide, two counts of recklessly endangering a child and one count of simple assault, court papers say.
Wyant wore a white T-shirt and tan shorts and sat handcuffed next to his attorney, Philip Lauer, at a table during Friday’s arraignment hearing.
The arraignment was brief because Lauer had spent much of the previous hour going through the grand jury presentation with Wyant before the courtroom was opened for the hearing.
When asked by the judge if they wanted the more than 20 pages of the grand jury report read aloud, Lauer said he didn’t.
Lauer, when asked by the judge about bail considerations, said that Wyant had strong family ties to the area, surrendered at the time and place to which he agreed and wasn’t a risk to run off.
Yetter, pointing to a specific point in the court papers where the forensics expert was testifying, said, “I simply say denial of bail.”
Wyant’s preliminary hearing on the charges is tentatively scheduled for 10:30 a.m. July 12 in Central Court in Easton.
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