Judge says boyfriend could face death penalty after Rocky Mount toddler found unresponsive in bathtub with cuts, bruises

A 30-year-old Rocky Mount man could be sentenced to death after a 1-year-old died in a home.

The child was found unresponsive at a home in the 600 block of Paul Street in Rocky Mount, according to the police.

According to arrest warrants, Marcus Richardson, the boyfriend of the child's mother, was supposed to be watching the child at the time of his death.

Richardson is accused of murdering the baby, Romie Tyler Ill. He faces charges of first-degree murder and felony child abuse.

Richardson could face either life in prison or the death penalty, according to a judge.

The baby's father, Romie Tyler II, told WRAL News that he is heartbroken.

"He didn't deserve that. He was a sweet baby. He was a happy baby," he said.

"You took my son's life," he said. "I'm mad, I'm angry, I'm furious."

Tyler said that he and Sierra Eley, 27, had joint custody of their son. He said that she had kept him for three weeks longer than she was supposed to.

"All you had to do was give me my son. If you didn't want to take care of him, if you didn't want to be with him, you could give him to me," he said.

Tyler said he had no problems with Richardson.

"I met him one time and we never talked," he said.

Tyler said he wants the two to be punished for what happened

Romie Tyler III had a 8-year-old sister, Tyler said.

"Now she has to grow up through life knowing that she had a brother and she can no longer see him anymore," he said.

Eley was charged with felony child abuse. She could face up to 17 years in prison.

In court Monday, Eley broke down in tears as the judge laid out charges against her. Her voice was breaking as she tried to answer the judge's questions.

"This is my first ever charge," she said when asked if she has any others pending.

The North Carolina Medical Examiners' office is working to conduct an autopsy to determine the cause of death.

Both Eley and Richardson remain in jail. Eley is being held under a $250,000 secured bond while Richardson is being held without bond.

On Oct. 6, Richardson and Eley have probable cause hearings where the prosecution will show evidence against them.

People are able to be sentenced to death in North Carolina if they are convicted of first-degree murder and the murder is found meet one of the state's 11 aggravating circumstances. One of those is if the murder was "especially heinous, atrocious or cruel."

Currently there are 139 people on North Carolina's death row, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

No one has been executed in North Carolina since 2006, due to a legal fight against the state's punishment. The most people ever punished in one year was in 2003, where seven people were killed by the state.