6-Year-Old Allegedly Strangled 1-Year-Old Brother With Seat Belt While Alone In Car

A 6-year-old girl allegedly strangled her 1-year-old brother with a seat belt when the two children were left in a car alone by their father. According to reports, the Texas father went shopping at the Family Thrift Store in Houston on May 21 when the incident took place.

Adrian Deshaun Middleton, 26, was arrested last week and now faces child abandonment charges. Defending himself, Middleton said he left the air conditioner running, put on a movie and gave the kids water and some snacks while he went to buy clothes. Surveillance footage cited by court documents indicated Middleton had stayed an hour longer than what he originally told authorities.

Middleton also claimed he checked on the children through a store window and thought they were fine. However, video footage of the scene contradicted his statement, reports said.

He told police when he returned to the Harris County parking lot to load his purchases he found his daughter crying. When he asked where her brother was she told him she "did something bad." Later he saw the toddler was in the rear seat with a seatbelt wrapped around his neck. He removed the seat belt and attempted to perform CPR until paramedics arrived.

The 1-year-old was taken to the Texas Children's Hospital where he was declared dead. An autopsy ruled his death a homicide by strangulation.

The 6-year-old told police when their father was gone, her brother started crying. She grew “angry” as her brother did not stop crying and in an attempt to stop him, she wrapped the seat belt around his neck. When he got quite, she thought he was just sleeping, according to court documents.

Prosecutors claimed Middleton put his son at "an unreasonable risk of harm, namely, and a reasonable person would have believed that such circumstances would place the Complainant in imminent danger of death, bodily injury, physical impairment and mental impairment." Middleton "did not voluntarily deliver the Complainant to a designated emergency infant care provider" before abandoning the infant.

The 6-year-old will not face charges because of her age, Houston police reportedly said.