LAWRENCEVILLE - A former Buford High School football player faces charges of felony murder and cruelty to children in the first degree in connection with the death of his girlfriend's 4-year-old son.
Gwinnett County police said in a press statement Thursday that Steven Singleton initially told police he found Tye Hardin unresponsive and tried to help the boy. After the child died, however, and detectives interviewed Singleton again, they determined his stories did not add up when compared with the boy's injuries. Singleton was arrested Wednesday.
Investigators said they were first told that the little boy had been left in Singleton's care on Saturday while the boy's mother - Singleton's girlfriend - went to her home to get ready for an event later in the evening. As she drove back to the apartment on Club Lakes Parkway in Lawrenceville, Tierra Green said she received a phone call from Singleton, saying something was wrong with Tye. When she arrived, she said she found Singleton and her son in the bathroom.
Singleton told police he had carried the boy to the bathroom when he found him unresponsive on the floor in another room of the apartment. He also said he accidentally hit the boy's head on the door frame as he carried him into the bathroom.
Even though Green and Singleton said they called 911, police said they did not wait for an ambulance, instead driving Tye to an urgent care center in Duluth. The staff at the center called 911 and had the boy transported to Gwinnett Medical Center. He was transferred that night to Scottish Rite Hospital.
Police said the boy was removed from life support around 3 a.m. Monday. He died shortly after.
Authorities said they noted Tye had a bruise on the right side of his forehead and on his right cheek. He also had bruises on the right side of his chest and under his right arm.
The investigation into the death continues.
AccessWDUN sports said Singleton was a standout football player at Buford High School who played at the college level at LSU and the University of South Carolina.
