Baby Dies In Bathtub After Father 'Forgot' About Him While Playing Video Games, Police Say

An Alabama man has been charged with reckless manslaughter after police say he put his 5-month-old baby in a bathtub and then forgot about the child for an hour while he played video games.

According to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office, 23-year-old Cordarius Cotton had been watching his young son, Dezmond Cotton, Sunday evening when he placed him in a bathtub and left the room.

Cotton allegedly told investigators he turned the water on in the bathtub, but then left to go play a video game and "forgot" about his son, a statement from the sheriff's office said. When he returned about an hour later, he found the child unresponsive.

Although a 911 dispatcher provided CPR instruction over the phone and paramedics continued to try to revive the baby once they arrived on the scene, the baby was later pronounced dead at the hospital, according to AL.com.

The baby's mother was not at home at the time of the incident, the news outlet said. Two other children who also live at the home have been placed in the care of their grandmother while the Alabama Department of Human Resources investigates the situation. Only one of the other children was at home when the baby was left in the tub.

"I can’t imagine how hard this is going to be on that child’s family," Jefferson County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Randy Christian said in a written press release, according to local news station WIAT.  "This will be heart wrenching for all involved. God be with them."

Cotton was arrested and taken to the Jefferson County Jail. His bond has been set at $15,000, the sheriff's office said.

[Photo: Jefferson County Sheriff's Office]