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Nashville toddler dies after stepdad hits him in face, throws him against bathtub as he 'didn't stop whining'

The child suffered from two skull fractures, brain bleeding, nine rib fractures, a lacerated liver, and his lung was attached to the ribcage from severe trauma

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE: A two-year-old child in Nashville was brutally beaten up and assaulted by his stepfather who was angry as the toddler did not stop whining. The Metro Nashville Police Department officers as well as the Nashville Fire Department personnel had responded to a call on Friday, October 9, which reported of an unconscious child not breathing. The authorities then found Cincere Hathaway, 2, in an apartment on North 2nd Street, WZTV revealed.

Hathaway, then, was rushed to the Vanderbilt Children's Hospital where he had been pronounced dead on the same day. On October 13, Tuesday, the authorities arrested 33-year-old Rozelle Westmoreland on South 7th Street for violating probation. While questioning Westmoreland, the suspect gave details of the crime which had taken place four days before. Westmoreland admitted that he had hit the child on his head many times and then pushed him into the side of the bathtub which led him to hit his head on the floor, the arrest warrant revealed.

Westmoreland then picked up the child, who was having difficulty in breathing, put clothes on him and left him on bed. He then left the apartment without getting any medical care for the toddler. An autopsy report, obtained by WKRN, states that Hathaway had suffered from two skull fractures, brain bleeding, nine rib fractures, a "lacerated liver" and other "severe internal injuries" and his lung was "attached to the ribcage from severe trauma". Westmoreland said that he had been upset that the child did not stop whining and therefore, he hit him several times on his head and body. Investigators revealed that the child's mother had been out of the apartment for a couple of hours and found him unconscious on returning home. Westmoreland was charged with criminal homicide and is currently being held at the Metro Jail without bond.

Several outraged social media users reacted to the news. One such user wrote, "He was a defenseless baby. I hope he punished to the fullest extent of the law." Another commented, "There is no pit in hell low enough or hot enough for people who kill their babies. I’m thru now."

Some users took to Facebook to vent their anger over the incident. One wrote, "Make him whine then inflict the same justice he showed this V precious child. Momma idk who you are but my heart breaks for you! 😢😢😢 many prayers for you and your family." Another said, "This is sad beyond belief. I'll pray for all involved. For a person to be in/go to such a dark and wicked place to do something like this beyond comprehension. Rest in peace little sweet soul. God has you from now on." "God only knows the hell this baby lived through at the hands of this monster. He wasn't a 'stepdad'. He is full of nothing but anger and evil. Hard to imagine that the mother had no idea of what kind of temper he had," yet another user shared.