A Michigan Man Put Weighted Blanket on 6-Month-Old Daughter and Then Played Video Games All Night. Now, He’s Heading to Prison.

A man in Michigan pleaded no contest in the death of his 6-month-old daughter after he put a weighted blanket on her because she was crying while he was playing video games, according to authorities.

On May 18, 2022, police were dispatched to a home in Midland concerning an unresponsive infant, the Midland Daily News reported.

Police said the child was already dead when officers arrived and had a “bloody discharge” around her body and inside the crib.

Court documents state the child was “found deceased laying on her back in the bedroom.” Officers reported they could see a “dried red blood-like liquid” inside the baby crib and under the baby’s nostrils.

Midland County Prosecutor J. Dee Brooks said last year the baby died by asphyxiation while in the care of her father, 21-year-old Alex Lewis Marsh. The baby’s mother was working at the time.

Marsh initially told police that he rocked the baby to sleep and then checked on her about an hour later and she was fine. Around 6 a.m., he left home to pick up the baby’s mother from work, but he left the baby at home and didn’t check on her before he left, the Midland Daily News reported.

After returning to the apartment, the couple found the baby in the crib deceased, court records state.

An autopsy was conducted, and the results showed “fixed lividity on the right side of body (face and side) and on her back” and blood in her chest cavity, officials said.

Marsh then admitted the baby was crying and he “threw a large gray blanket (adult sized/heavy blanket)” over top of the baby in her crib.

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Midland County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Atea Duso said Marsh was playing video games and became upset when the baby interrupted him.

On Sept. 21, Marsh pleaded no contest to a second-degree murder charge. In exchange, the charges of first-degree murder and child abuse were dismissed.

Marsh will be sentenced on Nov. 16 and will serve a minimum of 13 and a half years in prison, the Midland Daily News reported.