A North Carolina man will serve between 30 and 37.5 years in prison after pleading guilty Friday to beating his 5-year-old son to death nearly two years ago.
Amir Hines, 26, was arrested on New Year’s Eve 2023 after Raleigh police responded to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Hospital for reports of a violent incident involving a 5-year-old boy.
Medical personnel told investigators the boy’s injuries were consistent with a “serious assault,” and investigators determined his father was responsible.
Hines, who was 24 at the time, was was reportedly “frustrated” with his son, Karter, who had autism and was nonverbal, according to The News & Observer.
He was initially charged with felony child abuse causing serious injury, but the charges were upgraded to first-degree murder following the boy’s death on Jan. 1.
He ultimately pleaded guilty to second-degree murder to avoid the possibility of a life sentence, WRAL News reported.
Authorities said the boy had been beaten so severely that he suffered a brain hemorrhage, according to court documents reviewed by local ABC affiliate WTVD.
His death was ruled a homicide caused by blunt force injuries to the head in a setting of medical neglect, officials said.
According to prosecutors, the boy was spending the holidays with his father, who had recently shown interest in being more involved in his life.
On the day he took him to the hospital, Hines told the child’s mother and grandmother that he’d fallen while riding a bike and later in the shower.
“Detectives conducted several interviews with both [Hines] and his girlfriend,” assistant district attorney Katherine Orndoff told the court. “In these interviews, the defendant gave a number of inconsistent statements compared with his account at the hospital.”
At Friday’s hearing, emotional family members remembered the young boy as a “bright light” who was adored by all.
“His hugs and kisses were his love language,” his grandmother, Tiffany Holloway, told the court. “He didn’t have to say ‘I love you’ because he showed it.”
