WASHINGTON – A former marine and adoptive father was formally charged Thursday with murdering his young son.
A Montgomery County grand jury issued the indictment Thursday charging Brian P. O’Callaghan, of Damascus, Md., on charges of first-degree murder and first-degree child abuse.
O’Callaghan is accused of killing his adopted son Hyunsu on Feb. 1. He was arrested on initial charges on Feb. 16.
Hyunsu, who would have been four in May, had skull fractures, bleeding in his brain and hemorrhaging in his eyes when he arrived at the hospital on Feb. 2 and doctors were concerned that he was “brain dead.” He was pronounced dead the next day.
An autopsy found that Hyunsu had suffered multiple blunt impact injuries.
O’Callaghan told police that his son slipped in the shower. But investigators say a typical child’s fall would not have caused Hyunsu’s fatal injuries.
The O’Callaghans adopted Hyunsu from Korea and his father told police that the two had not bonded since the boy came to live with the family last fall.
If convicted, O’Callaghan faces up to life in prison.
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