CORAOPOLIS, Pa. (AP) - A western Pennsylvania man accused of fatally beating his girlfriend’s young son will now face a homicide charge.
Tyler Scott Mason, 25, of Burgettstown, initially was charged with two counts of aggravated assault and a child endangerment count in the death of 3-year-old Aiden Lombardi. The homicide count was added Thursday after the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s office ruled the child’s death was caused by blunt force trauma to the head.
Mason and the child were alone in the girlfriend’s apartment in Coraopolis when the boy became unresponsive Tuesday night, Allegheny County authorities said. The boy was taken to a hospital but died the following night.
The child’s mother had left him with Mason while she drove a friend home. Mason soon called his girlfriend and told her the boy had stopped breathing. She told Mason to call 911, but because he was so distraught, she called herself.
Emergency responders noticed bruising and swelling on the child’s forehead, eye, jaw and ear. Doctors later determined he had a fractured skull and other head trauma.
Mason told police that Aiden became “fussy” while they were alone, so he gave the child water and chocolate milk. Mason said he then moved across the room to message his sister when he “noticed blood and a chewed French fry” near the boy’s mouth,
It wasn’t known Friday if Mason has retained an attorney.
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