Man accused of killing 6-year-old son by pinning him on couch

A Florida man is charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child after police found his 6-year-old son dead on Christmas Eve, according to the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office.

James "Rick" Dearman's live-in girlfriend, who was not named, told police she was playing video games with Dearman at their Englewood, Fla., home on Christmas Eve when he told the boy and his 7-year-old sibling to go to bed, the Sacramento Bee reported.  

When the children would not go to sleep, she said, Dearman made them face the wall. She said he then caught the victim watching the video game, become angry and put the child on the couch.

According to Dearman's girlfriend, the 270-pound man pinned the boy against the couch with his body.

After five minutes, the victim was motionless and the couple went into the garage to smoke a cigarette, police said. When they returned 10 minutes later, the girlfriend told police that the boy, who was still lying on the couch, had blue lips and was not breathing.

When police arrived, investigators interviewed the 7-year-old sibling, who repeated what the girlfriend had said and told police, "When Dad squished him, he got dead."

Dearman, who refused to speak to authorities, was arrested Monday on unrelated charges from Georgia of animal cruelty and criminal damage to property, according to the Sacramento Bee.

His charge of aggravated child abuse was upgraded to aggravated manslaughter of a child, and he is being held without bond at the Sarasota County Jail.

Contact Caitlin Lilly at clilly@reviewjournal.com. Find her on Twitter: @caitiesmith