Mom accused of killing 2-month-old son because he wouldn’t stop crying, Utah cops say

A mom was arrested after being accused of killing her 2-month-old son because he wouldn’t stop crying, Utah police told news outlets.

Bryce Jo Harkins called 911 on Jan. 14 and told the dispatcher that her “baby was gone,” Riverdale Police told KTVX.

When police arrived to her home, they found the 2-month-old boy dead with injuries “consistent with aggravated child abuse,” officials told the outlet.

Harkins told interrogators she had abused her son “multiple” times over the past two weeks, officers told KSL.

Harkins later admitted to police she “gave her son a punch to the head” when he wouldn’t stop crying the day he died, police told KSTU.

“They can’t fight back. They can’t defend themselves,” Harkins’ former co-worker and friend Ricki Jimenez told KSTU. “It’s sickening.”

Police said Harkins told officers she had backhanded “her son in another incident hard enough to leave a bruise on his forehead,” KTVX reported.

McClatchy News reached out to the Riverdale Police Department for more information on Jan. 17 and is awaiting a response.

Harkins, 27, was arrested and booked into the Weber County Jail on an aggravated murder charge, according to jail records.

Riverdale is 40 miles north of Salt Lake City.

This story was originally published January 17, 2024 at 12:10 PM with the headline "Mom accused of killing 2-month-old son because he wouldn’t stop crying, Utah cops say."