Zackry Johnson: Man admits to brutally killing girlfriend's one-year-old baby girl to 'play video games'
If you or someone you know may be the victim of child abuse, please contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453) or contact their live chat services.
FAIRBANKS, ALASKA: Authorities have revealed how a man admitted to killing his girlfriend's baby daughter while trying to get her to nap so he "could play video games." He initially told police that she sustained injuries from "play fighting" with her older sister.
The 31-year-old Zackry Johnson was caring for the one-year-old child while her mother was at work, as per a November 5 statement by the Fairbanks Police Department. Authorities said Johnson lived with the mom and her children. When the baby's mother arrived home in the evening, the suspect told her the baby was sleeping. However, when she went to check on her the next day, she found the baby had died.
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The devastated mother called 911 to notify authorities that her child had died. Fairbanks police and medics reported Friday morning, November 11, to the address in the Aurora Subdivision. Responding officers said they found the baby had "multiple injuries to her body, consistent with being assaulted.” After talking to the baby's mother, Johnson was taken to the police department for questioning, the Sacramento Bee reported.
During the interrogation, Johnson waived his Miranda rights and told police that the baby's injuries were from "‘play fighting’ with her 6-year-old sister." When he was told the injuries were not consistent with “two young siblings rough-housing,” Johnson reportedly gave different accounts of how the baby was injured. He "ultimately admitted to causing multiple injuries and acknowledged using too much force against the child as he was trying to get her to take a nap so that he could play video games,” the Fairbanks Police Department said in a statement. “He demonstrated several of the actions he used on the child and further acknowledged his actions likely led to the death of the girl,” they added.
Johnson is now being held at the Fairbanks Correctional Center on a charge of second-degree murder. He is charged with “knowingly engaging in conduct that resulted in the death of another person under circumstances manifesting an extreme indifference to the value of human life,” according to the police statement.
If you or anyone you know has information about the case, you are urged to contact detectives at fpdinvestigations@fairbanks.us or call 907-450-6550. Fairbanks police also asked anyone who suspects a child is being abused to call local police, Alaska State Troopers, or the Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-478-4444.
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Another baby killed for 'playing video game'
MEAWW previously reported how a Kentucky man fatally punched his one-month-old son in frustration after losing a video game. Anthony Trice, 26, was charged with murder and first-degree criminal abuse of a child. The perp was home alone watching the infant while playing video games, as mentioned in the arrest slip. At some point, he started losing and became frustrated before he threw the controller and punched his son in the head. The blow caused serious physical injury to the child, who began crying in pain. Trice then picked him up to calm him down and proceeded to the kitchen to make a bottle of milk, where he dropped the baby once again.
According to detectives, Trice then placed the baby in the bedroom and "propped him up in a seated position." He put the bottle into his mouth and went into the bathroom, police said. When he returned, he realized the baby was unresponsive and dialed 911. The child was rushed to Norton Children's Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries two days later.