WASHINGTON — A D.C. man facing first-degree murder in the death of a one-year-old boy is accused of trying to blame the child’s death on his own son and other kids the child played with.
Brian Wooden, 28, took care of his girlfriend’s 1-year-old son, Carter Sanders, all day on May 16 while she was at work, charging documents said. The boy spent part of the day in Wooden’s uncle’s care while Wooden attended a domestic violence training session, they said.
Later that afternoon, Wooden told Sanders’ mother they went to the pool, where Sanders played with other kids, including Wooden’s 3-year-old biological son. The mother of the 3-year-old, however, told the police the boy was in day care all day long and never went to the pool, the documents said.
Hours later, D.C. Fire and EMS responders rushed Sanders from Wooden’s apartment on Benning Road Southeast to the hospital, where he died. A medical examiner ruled Sanders’ death a homicide by blunt force trauma, writing that “An incredible about of force was used against this infant.” The examiner found Sanders suffered skull fractures, hemorrhages to the left side and base of his brain, and liver lacerations and contusions to his colon and kidney, according to documents.
Sanders’ mother told police that Wooden later tried to blame his 3-year-old son and the other children at the pool for causing the trauma.
