Father Charged For Allegedly Smothering Baby, Trying To Revive Her With Shock

A 19-year-old man was charged with capital murder Monday for allegedly smothering his infant daughter and then trying to revive her with shock from a live extension cord in Crawford County, Arkansas. He was initially arrested on charges of first-degree murder in June.

The affidavit stated that Tyler Buchanan initially told police that he fed his two-month-old daughter and then went to sleep on June 12. When he woke up a while later, he found that the baby was not breathing. He immediately cut off the end of an extension cord and attempted to use it to revive her.

He later admitted that around midnight, he held the baby's head against his shoulder to stop her from breathing as she was disturbing his sleep but did not call the police.

In the morning, the girl’s mother called the police after she saw him holding the girl who was not breathing. The girl was taken to Sparks Hospital in Van Buren where she was pronounced dead, Local Daily Arkansas Online reported.

According to the affidavit, Buchanan took active steps to hide his crime, including not notifying the baby's mom.

He is currently being held at the Crawford County Detention Center without bond and could face the death penalty if convicted of the capital murder charge.

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

“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,” neighbor Tricia Dewberry told local daily KFSM.

A GoFundMe page was created set in memory of the girl, through which more than $700 was raised.

“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,” the page description read.

A new page was set up to help the mother raise her two other children and it already raised $865.

“The funeral expenses have been taken care of and we would like to thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts for the donations! The mother and family will be moving to a new home soon and we would like to continue to help the family by easing the financial burden that comes with moving,” the website reads.

In December last year, Buchanan was charged with possession of the drug paraphernalia, six counts of theft of property by credit or debit card, breaking or entering and theft of property, court records show.

In a similar case in August last year, a Southern California father was convicted for smothering his son to death with a child's jacket following a trip to Disneyland in April. The father then put the body in a wilderness area about 1 to 2 miles beyond Lake Cachuma, California.

“His intentions were to kill the child, kill himself and have everyone point the finger at Ana, as her having something to do with it," Los Angeles County Sheriff's detective said, Fox 40 reported.