UPDATE: 4-year-old found unresponsive in local couple’s home dies

Published 2:42 pm Tuesday, April 23, 2024

Charges against a Sulphur man and his live-in girlfriend have been upgraded after a 4-year-old boy found unresponsive in their home last week died over the weekend.

Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Kayla Vincent said officers were dispatched to a home on N. Claiborne Street at about 1 p.m. Wednesday. Vincent said when detectives spoke with the father of the child, Scott A. Edwards, 26, and his live-in girlfriend, Jenna E. Morgan, 24, both of Sulphur, they gave conflicting stories on how the injuries may have occurred.

Vincent said none of their stories were consistent with the extent of the injuries the boy sustained.

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Hospital personnel said the boy suffered from injuries consistent with likely ongoing abuse occurring over a period of time — including multiple brain bleeds and bruising, all at various stages of healing, Vincent said.

The boy was transported to a local hospital and then airlifted to a Baton Rouge hospital due to the severity of his injuries. Vincent said the boy was pronounced brain dead on Friday and on Sunday he was officially pronounced deceased.

Judge Tony Fazzio signed a warrant in the amount of $1 million dollars each charging Edwards and Morgan, who are still incarcerated at the Calcasieu Correctional Center, with second-degree murder. The pair were initially charged with second-degree cruelty to a juvenile.