LAS VEGAS — A man from Las Vegas is facing the death penalty for allegedly killing his girlfriend’s 4-year-old son and hiding his body in a freezer.
According to The Associated Press, Brandon Lee Toseland, 36, was arrested in February for allegedly killing his girlfriend’s son and hiding his body in a freezer. Police found the boy’s body after his sister reportedly told her teacher that her mother was being held against her will at Toseland’s house.
Both the prosecutor and Toseland’s attorney both declined to comment on the intent to seek the death penalty which was filed last Thursday in Clark County District Court, according to the AP.
The boy’s mother filed a wrongful death and negligence lawsuit against Toseland in March. He filed a counterclaim against the mother alleging that she was fully aware that the boy died last December, and she had helped him hide the body, said the AP.
The Clark County coroner ruled last month that the boy died from blunt force injuries and his death was declared a homicide.
Toseland is expected to stand trial in December and has pleaded not guilty. He is charged with murder, kidnapping, child abuse and domestic battery by strangulation, according to the AP.