Wichita father charged with murder after squeezing infant son’s head
A 22-year-old Wichita father charged with murdering one of his infant twins earlier this month told authorities he squeezed the baby’s head “extra hard” because he was “angry and frustrated” that the boy was crying, according to an arrest affidavit released Thursday.
Marlin D. Williams Jr. told a detective on Jan. 10 that he tripped and fell with his knee on his 2-month-old son, Marrell, while the baby was lying on a bed, causing the boy to cry. Williams “stated he was frustrated with ... (the baby) crying and the other children crying as well.”
“He became angry and frustrated and picked ... (the baby) up ... so his head was between his arms and chest,” the affidavit says Williams told authorities during an interview.
Williams said he squeezed the boy’s head with his arms and told him to “ ‘Shut up! Just shut up ... ! Just (expletive) shut up!’ ” He said he “squeezed extra hard on his last ‘shut up.’ “
Williams told authorities when he put the baby down, the boy was wheezing but otherwise silent and had a blank look on his face. Williams was home caring for Marrell, the baby’s twin sister and his two other young children while their mother was at work.
Williams “stated he was frustrated to a level of 9, almost to a 10, with 10 being the most frustrated he has ever been” when he squeezed and screamed at his son.
He “stated he did not intend to hurt ... (the baby) and he should not have done this,” the affidavit says. He intended for everything to “just shut up” and “just be quiet.”
After the boy stopped crying, Williams laid him down and left to play a video game on his XBox — NBA 2K20 — for 10 or 20 minutes before checking on Marrell.
He played a second game, which took 20 to 25 minutes, before checking on the baby again, the affidavit says.
By then, the baby had vomited in his mouth and “smelled as if he had defecated.” Williams picked up his son and patted him on the back, and the baby vomited again. Williams told police he then invited a friend “to a party on the Xbox” so he could talk about his son.
During a video chat, the friend told Williams to call 911.
Emergency crews went to Williams’ home in the 2800 block of South Emporia at 12:14 p.m. on Jan. 10. Marrell was unresponsive and not breathing by that time. Doctors at the hospital noted that the baby had two skull fractures, a brain bleed and a portion of his skull displaced, as well as a broken collar bone. Marrell died from his injuries on Jan. 16.
An autopsy determined the boy’s cause of death to be “Blunt force injuries of the head,” the affidavit says.
When authorities asked Williams in the law enforcement interview if he’d hurt the baby before, Williams admitted to squeezing Marrell “with his hands to the point he felt a pop and he thought he popped ... (Marrell’s) back” sometime between Dec. 10 and Christmas Day.
He also admitted to grabbing and yanking his 2-month-old daughter by her right leg and shouting profanities at his twins while the girl was crying sometime between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. Doctors found she had a broken femur when she was examined.
Williams is charged with first-degree felony murder and aggravated battery. He remains in the Sedgwick County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bond.
The Kansas Department for Children and Families told The Eagle earlier this month that it was aware of Marrell’s death but had received “no prior reports of abuse or neglect involving this child.”
This story was originally published January 30, 2020 at 5:27 PM.
