DeSOTO, IL — A downstate man has pleaded guilty to brutally beating his girlfriend's 8-year-old son to death with a bat and attempting to kill the boy's mother, according to reports.
Marcus Moultrie, 37, submitted his plea Monday for murder and attempted murder plus an enhancement, The Southern Illinoisan reported.
Moultrie had played softball before the attack the night of May 13, according to Capital News Illinois, which reported that he had come home to a trailer in DeSoto and been confronted about an affair by his on-and-off girlfriend, Deborah Snider, who told him she and the children were moving out.
Snider was holding their infant when Moultrie forced her to the ground, and he started hitting her with a bat, Capital News Illinois reported, before turning his ire on 8-year-old Leland Arnett, whose skull was shattered and who died four days later, according to The Southern Illinoisan.
The attack was recorded on a cellphone, which captured at least 117 blows, Capital News Illinois reported, adding that an 11-year-old in the home ran to a neighbor for help.
Moultrie is set to be sentenced Dec. 4 and faces up to life in prison, according to The Southern Illinoisan.
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