Couple Smothered And Killed 4-Month-Old For Crying, Charged With Murder

A New Jersey couple was charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder Monday for suffocating their 4-month-old son to death on a motel bed in February. The father appeared to be smiling in his mugshot.

William Herring, 42, and Brianna Brochhausen, 22, became frustrated on Feb. 14 after their son Hunter Brochhausen would not stop crying.

Police said the frustrated couple decided to give the baby a “time out” by making him sleep on his stomach and covering his head and body with the motel’s bedspread, the New York Daily News Reported.

The two then went out of the room to have a smoke and when they returned 10 minutes later, they saw the baby not breathing. The baby was taken to Virtua Hospital and was placed on a respirator, but, showed minimal brain activity. Hunter could not be revived and he died March 3 after life support was removed.

The manner of death was deemed homicide by the medical examiner who said the baby died of complications of suffocation.

They were arrested and charged with child endangerment in March and were lodged in Burlington County Jail, New Jersey. The charges were upgraded to murder after a five-month probe by the Burlington County prosecutor’s office.

Col. Patrick Callahan of the New Jersey State Police said: “The thoughtless actions of these individuals ended up costing a defenseless 4-month-old infant his life.”

Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina said: "The responsibilities of becoming a new parent can sometimes we overwhelming," adding "Those who find themselves at a point of crisis when caring for a newborn child should know they have help available, and they must seek that help rather than taking actions that might harm their child."

In an unrelated incident last week, a 19-year-old Arkansas man was charged with capital murder for allegedly smothering his infant daughter and then trying to revive her with shock.

Tyler Buchanan had initially said he fed his 2-month-old daughter, then went to sleep and when he woke up a while later, he found the baby was not breathing. He later admitted to have held the infant’s head against his shoulder to stop her from breathing as she was disturbing his sleep.

The girl’s mother informed the cops after she saw him holding the girl who was not breathing.

“The evidence is showing us that she was actually smothered sometime during the middle of the night,” Van Buren police Detective Jonathan Wear said.

Tricia Dewberry, his neighbor said, “He loved the baby, he did talk … and he said the baby was a gifted baby, an advanced baby. He showed the baby off and let me play and hold the baby.”

A GoFundMe page was created set in memory of the girl which read “She was born April 5th and her life was taken by her own father on June 12th. Her Mother is a strong woman that has overcame a difficult past she has 2 other children to care for.”