Army member accused of killing child in Tempe arrested at Texas base

PHOENIX – A man accused of fatally abusing his girlfriend’s 13-month-old child in Tempe two years ago was arrested at a Texas Army base on Tuesday, authorities said.

Khairee Ammar Patton is being held at a Bell County jail while awaiting extradition on second-degree murder and child abuse charges, the Tempe Police Department said in a press release Thursday.

Patton, an Army member, was taken into custody while entering Fort Hood, according to police.

Police said Patton brought the unresponsive child to Mesa’s Cardon Children’s Medical Center, now known as Banner Children’s at Desert, on Jan. 9, 2019.

He told hospital staff he was the child’s stepfather and the toddler had been hurt in a fall. The child died of the injuries, which doctors told police weren’t consistent with Patton’s account.

Police learned that Patton was a recent boyfriend of the child’s mother and was babysitting while she was at work, with nobody else home at the time the child was hurt.

Doctors told police it was unlikely the injuries were accidental and instead appeared to be the result of abuse.

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