Father Killed 5-Year-Old With Shovel, Buried Him In Yard: Police

LITHONIA, GA — A man beat his 5-year-old son to death with a shovel, then buried the boy in his family's backyard in DeKalb County, according to police.

Montrais Boyd, 25, was arrested Wednesday on a charge of murder, DeKalb County Police say. According to police, the killing happened at the home on Rocky Pine Drive in Lithonia where the little boy lived with his grandmother.

Officers were called to the home by the grandmother at about 6:30 p.m., according to police spokeswoman Shiera Campbell.

Campbell said the boy's parents had arrived from California for an unannounced visit when, at some point on Wednesday, his mother and grandmother left the home. When they got back, police say, the boy was dead.

There were three other children in the house at the time of the killing and they told the boy's mother what happened, according to police. The mother went to the backyard where she dug up the boy's body — which was partially decapitated — and was attempting to take him to a hospital when officers arrived, Campbell said.

None of the other children were believed to have been hurt in the attack. Police were not releasing their ages Thursday afternoon.

Last year, Arizona police arrested a man named Montrais Boyd — who was from Westminster, Calif., and had a son who was 4 years old at the time — after he was found laying naked on a highway. Boyd ran toward a trooper's vehicle and began striking it with his fists, then got into a BMW and began ramming the trooper's vehicle, according to Arizona State Police.

He was arrested after trying to drive away and charged with aggravated assault with a dangerous instrument, felony endangerment, child abuse and criminal damage charges. The Arizona Department of Child Safety was called in and the boy was reunited with his mother at the hospital.

A spokesperson with DeKalb County Police said she could not immediately confirm the man arrested in Arizona and the man accused of murdering his son are the same person and referred an inquiry to Arizona authorities, who did not immediately respond to a message seeking confirmation.

Boyd, who is being held at DeKalb County Jail, is scheduled to have a video hearing with a judge on Friday, at which point his first court date will be set, Campbell said. She said he was arrested at the Lithonia home without incident on Wednesday.

Photo courtesy DeKalb County Police Department