Dad Physically Beat 4-Year-Old To Death At Somerset Hotel, 4 Kids Say In Affidavit

FRANKLIN, NJ — Six other children were present when police went to a hotel in Somerset for an unresponsive four-year-old boy, according to new details released Friday in police documents.

Sean Tate, 36, of Woodbridge, is charged with first-degree murder and second-degree endangering the welfare of a child in connection with his four-year-old son's death, said Somerset County First Assistant Prosecutor Annemarie L. Mueller.

The Affidavit of Probable Cause obtained by Patch details the circumstances surrounding the boy's death and his autopsy report released on Feb. 5.

Autopsy

The medical examiner said in the report that the cause of death for the four-year-old was "homicidal violence with the manner of death being homicide."

"The report indicates there were numerous hemorrhages and hematomas to the top of John Doe's skull, wounds - both healing and otherwise - on John Doe's forehead, eye region, ear region, neck, torso, and extremities," according to police documents.

Additionally, in the boy's oral cavity, "there was a large tear and abrasions consistent with smothering, as well as bruising to the tongue and blood within the oral cavity."

The report also stated the boy "suffered from extreme weight loss and muscle wasting, and he had a distended large intestine and rectum with an abundant amount of stool in both the large intestine and rectum - with hemorrhages to both the large intestine and rectum."

Boy's Death

At around 3:24 p.m. on Feb. 19, 2024, Franklin Township Police went to Home Wood Suites Hotel in Somerset, for the report of an unresponsive 4-year-old male child. Read More: Dad Charged With Murder Of 4-Year-Old Son At Somerset County Hotel

Police found the boy in the rear master bedroom along with his father, Sean Tate.

Chamyr Harris, Tate's girlfriend and the mother of the boy, told officers that the last time she saw the boy alive was two hours earlier, according to the report.

Tate said that his son had fallen off a toilet two days prior.

The boy was brought to Robert Wood Johnson Hospital New Brunswick and pronounced dead at 5:24 p.m. that same day.

The boy "weighed 24 pounds and appeared emaciated with various injuries all over his body including a large injury to his head, a firm stomach and prolapsed rectum," according to the report.

On the following day police spoke with the boy's parents Sean Tate and Chamyr Harris.

Tate said his son hit his head on an AC unit days before him falling off the toilet and that the injury on the boy's head was visible and turned black. Tate said he iced it before going to bed around 7 a.m. on Feb. 19, 2024, according to the report.

Tate said when he woke up at around 1:30 to 2 p.m. that same day, he learned from Harris that the boy was unresponsive prompting him to contact 911, according to the report.

A total of six other children were present in the living room during the time of the incident, according to the report.

Four of those children were brought to the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office(SCPO) Child Advocacy Center for forensic interviews and said that Tate had "physically beaten John Doe and caused his death."

On Feb. 18, 2025, Tate was arrested in Woodbridge without incident. Tate was lodged in the Somerset County Jail pending a detention hearing on this matter which remains an ongoing investigation.

Anyone with information relating to this homicide is asked to contact the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit at 908-231-7100 or the Franklin Township Police Department at 732-873-5533 or via the STOPit app. The STOPit app allows citizens to provide anonymous reports including videos and photos. STOPit can be downloaded to your smart phone for free at the Google Play Store or Apple App Store, access code: SOMERSETNJ.

Information can also be provided through the Somerset County Crime Stoppers’ Tip Line at 1-888-577-TIPS (8477). All anonymous STOPit reports and Crime Stopper tips will be confidential.

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