Police: 5-month-old baby beat to death, mother's boyfriend charged with murder

A 5-month-old baby in Louisiana was brought to the hospital for a seizure, but now police say the mother’s boyfriend has been charged with murder.

On March 7, Marques Powell was brought to the hospital by his mother’s boyfriend, Jacques Miller, for what he said was a seizure, police said.

According to authorities, hospital staff placed Marques on life support after they determined he had a fractured skull, brain swelling, a broken tibia, a broken clavicle and five broken ribs.

Investigators thought the wounds suggested abuse, so they questioned the baby’s mother, Lashontay Powell, police said.

The New Orleans Advocate reported Powell told police Marques fell out of his car seat.

However, police said they determined the baby's injuries were not consistent with a fall and an autopsy revealed the cause of death to be blunt force trauma inflicted by another person.

On March 17, officials arrested Powell and Miller and charged each with one count of second-degree murder. Bail for the duo was set at $350,000 for each.

An Orleans Parish Grand Jury came back on July 1 and indicted Miller for murder and Powell was charged with cruelty to a juvenile, police said.

Authorities have not said why the change in charges. Miller’s bail is still at $350,000, but Powell’s was reduced to $15,000, officials said.