Prosecutor: Alabama parents beat son to death for wetting pants

An Alabama couple has been charged with capital murder after a 5-year-old boy was allegedly beaten to death for urinating in his pants.

According to WBRC, Anniston police responded on July 26 to a call that said 5-year-old Gregory Caver was having breathing problems. The boy later died after being transported to Stringfellow Memorial Hospital.

After a coroner's report found that the cause of death was homicide, murder warrants were issued for the victim's mother, 28-year-old India Kimble, and her boyfriend, 26-year-old Vonta McClellan.

"The male is charged with capital murder in that he beat this child over an extended period of time, 5-year-old child with a belt and the child ultimately died of multiple blunt force trauma injuries from that beating," Calhoun County District Attorney Brian McVeigh told WIAT. "The mother of the child is also charged with capital murder in that she aided and abetted. And the allegations against her are that she kept the child in an environment where domestic violence was taking place and child abuse and on that particular day that she participated in verbal abuse of a child and kept the child there while the child was being beaten and did not call the police didn’t call for help didn’t do anything that would have resulted in protecting this child."

McVeigh said that the beatings had taken place after Caver wet himself.

Prosecutors were still considering whether or not to seek the death penalty.

"We’re still gathering evidence, working with the police; I think it’s probably too soon to make that judgement," McVeigh explained. "Obviously when the case involves the death of a 5-year-old child it certainly sounds like something that should be a death penalty case, but we’ve got additional information that we need to consider before we make that decision."

During a follow-up investigation, the Calhoun County Department of Human Resources (DHR) found that there was also a 7-year-old daughter of McClellan inside the house at the time of the incident that had "apparent strikes with a belt."

The girl's mother, Secret Huguley, fled with her daughter after being informed that a doctor needed to be involved. The Anniston Police Department eventually located the woman, and the girl and three other children were handed over to DHR. Huguley was arrested for tampering with evidence.

McClellan was being held on a $500,000 bond in Anniston City Jail. Kimble was being transported back to Anniston after being arrested by U.S. Marshals in Mobile.

Watch this video from WAIT, broadcast July 31, 2013.

Watch this video from WBRC, broadcast July 31, 2013.