18-Year-Old South Carolina Father Charged With Shaking Son to Death

LEXINGTON, S.C. – An 18-year-old South Carolina man has been charged with homicide by child abuse after authorities say he killed his five-month-old son.

Lexington County Sheriff James Metts says a judge denied bond Thursday for Lexie Dial III of Gaston.

Authorities say Dial shook his son, Joshua, so violently Tuesday night at their home that the boy stopped breathing. Paramedics took the boy to a hospital, where he died the next day from swelling and bleeding on his brain.

It was not immediately clear if Dial had an attorney. He could face life in prison if convicted.