CALIFORNIA, Mo. (AP) – A 37-year-old central Missouri man who admitted killing his 1-year-old son and burning the body has been sentenced to life in prison.
Matthew Hamm, of Fortuna, was sentenced Thursday for second-degree murder and abandonment of a corpse in the boy’s May 2017 death.
He pleaded guilty in December in a plea deal that reduced the original
first-degree murder charge.
The Jefferson City News-Tribune reports authorities found the boy’s skeletal remains inside Hamm’s home and in a burn pit on the property after the child’s mother notified police.
Hamm initially told authorities the boy died after choking. He later admitted hitting the boy after he spilled a bowl of water.
Hamm told authorities he was upset that a family member hadn’t shown up to
take care of the baby.
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