Cody Eugen Wygant, 24 is being charged with third degree murder and child neglect after suffocating his son, Daymeon, by positioning his hand over the 16-month-old’s nose and mouth for 3-4 minutes to stop him from crying but left the child lethargic. Wygant’s reasons for doing so were so that he could focus on playing his Xbox 360 video game console and to watch television.
The child neglect charge comes from Wygant’s placing a lethargic Daymeon in an unwatched playpen for several hours, smothered with bedding. The murder charge stems from suffocation, with the death being declared at a hospital. An autopsy has been performed, but the results have yet to be announced.
Emergency crew was sent when Wygant returned to check on his son around 1 in the morning of April 17th and noticed that the boy had turned blue and did not respond. Wygant was the primary guardian for Daymeon, with Wygant’s girlfriend and Daymeon’s mother away from home during the incident.
The Sheriff’s department stated that Wygant moved to Florida in the past year and had no connections beyond his girlfriend. The girlfriend’s name was not released. Wygant and the girlfriend also have a daughter, age three months, who is currently a ward of the state.