HENDERSON, Nev. (KLAS) — A father accused of murdering his 5-year-old son reportedly beat the boy to death after disapproving of what the child was watching on television, the 8 News Now I-Team has learned.
Police took 33-year-old Gerald Oglesby into custody Wednesday on a charge of open murder.
Henderson police said they received a 911 call from Oglesby around 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, saying his son was unresponsive. He told a dispatcher that the last time he saw his son breathing was about 13 minutes before he called, a report said.
Police officers and firefighters arrived to the home in the 700 block of Center Street, finding the 5-year-old lying on a couch with visible injuries to his face and torso, a report said.
A neighbor who lives directly below Oglesby told investigators earlier in the night, she heard “loud noises and believed it was a body being thrown onto the ground.” She said, “the loud thumping continued for about two hours,” a report said.
According to police, Oglesby told investigators he “was forced to discipline his son” after “back talking” in December.
“Gerald used a cell phone charging cord and hit him multiple times,” on his arms, backside and jaw, police said.
On Wednesday, the 5-year-old was watching TV in Oglesby’s bedroom with “characters that were adult age” deemed inappropriate by Oglesby, police said.
Oglesby then took off an electrical cord on a cable box and began to whip the child, police said. This caused the boy’s chin to split open and bleed, police said.
Later in the evening, Oglesby began whipping the child again.
“Gerald explained as soon as he struck [the boy] in the abdomen, he knew he struck him too hard,” police wrote. The child then had difficulty walking and began to vomit, police said. He did not call for help.
Oglesby attempted CPR after the child stopped breathing, police said. He then texted his sister, saying the boy “had died because he had whipped him too hard,” police said.
According to police, Oglesby was awarded custody of his son in February 2021. Court records obtained by the I-Team show the boy’s mother had petitioned for custody several times.
In the most recent petition in February, the boy’s mother said Oglesby had “kidnapped” their son and that she had not seen him in some time.
Oglesby is scheduled to appear in Henderson court Monday at 9 a.m.
The boy’s official cause and manner of death were pending as of Thursday.
