Man Accused Of Killing Girlfriend's 2-Year-Old Son

NewsOn6.com

COWETA, OK -- A Wagoner County man is behind bars accused of killing his girlfriend's son. 

It happened Sunday afternoon in Coweta.

The News On 6's Ashli Sims reports Kelynn Byrd was just 2-years-old, and Coweta Police believe he died because the man he lived with kicked him to death.

"Whatever kind of anger that can lead up to someone doing that to a 2-and-a-half-year-old boy is just beyond me," said Byrd's grandmother, Michelle Ebel.

Michelle Ebel fingers snapshots of her first grandson, his image blurred by her tears and her grief.

"He's very beautiful and he was so sweet," said Ebel.  "He was like one of my own.  When you raise your grandbabies they become yours."

Police say 2-year-old Kelynn Byrd was home with his mother's boyfriend.

Investigators say the couple had just had a fight and Byrd's mom had left. 

When she came back, she noticed something was wrong with the toddler. 

She called 911 and Byrd was rushed to a Tulsa hospital, but it was too late.

"And they said he was deceased, and I just didn't want to hear that word," Ebel said.  "You just covered your ears. And you want it to go away.  I can't say that enough.  You just want to rewind.  You want to rewind and make it all go away."

Coweta Police arrested the mother's boyfriend, 21-year-old Michael Hernandez.

Officers say Hernandez admitted he was very angry about his relationship with Byrd's mother, so he started kicking the toddler repeatedly in the back.

The state Medical Examiner's Office says Byrd died from blunt chest and abdominal trauma, and his death has been ruled a homicide.

"It's hard to imagine that they're not coming back, that he was kicked so hard that you'd kill him," said Ebel.

Ebel says she's always had a nagging suspicion that something wasn't right.  Now, she's speaking out to encourage others to speak up.

"I'm only doing this for one reason; there's something wrong," she said.

The family has set up a Kelynn E. Byrd Memorial Fund at any Arvest Bank branch.

Watch the video: Toddler Allegedly Killed By Mother's Boyfriend