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Teen charged in 'wrestling' death of 3-year-old

FORT WORTH, Texas (CNN) -- A 17-year-old male is in jail Saturday, charged with killing his girlfriend's 3-year-old son while performing a wrestling move on the toddler.

Fort Worth, Texas, police said John Gonzalez, 17, was baby-sitting Dylan McGaughy around 8 a.m. (9 a.m. ET) Friday when the incident occurred.

Police said that as the two were playing, Gonzalez threw the child on the ground. He then threw himself into the child's midsection, leading with his elbow.

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"The boyfriend was doing wrestling moves on the little boy," said Lt. Duane Paul. "He dropped his elbow into his stomach area."

Police said the boy's 23-year-old mother was at work at the time of her child's death.

Some circumstances surround the toddler's death resemble those in a 1999 Florida case involving Lionel Tate, then 12, and six-year-old Tiffany Eunick.

While Tate's own defense team did not dispute he beat Eunick to death, they argued Tate was a wrestling fan imitating moves he had seen on television and unaware of the damage he might cause.

Prosecutor Ken Padowitz argued that television violence was not on trial and the judge refused to let the defense subpoena several professional wrestlers.

A Florida jury convicted Tate, now 14, of first degree murder in January. A judge sentenced him to life in prison without parole in March.



Greta@LAW




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