Las Vegas man pleads guilty to murder in 3-year-old’s death
A Las Vegas man pleaded guilty Wednesday to a second-degree murder charge in the death of a 3-year-old boy last year.
Joshua Oxford, 42, also pleaded guilty to child abuse, neglect or endangerment with substantial bodily harm, according to Deputy Public Defender Scott Coffee. Oxford faces up to 25 years behind bars on the murder charge and an additional 20 years on the child abuse charge at a sentencing next month.
Police said Cassie Smith reported her son, Daniel Theriot, missing last September at Sunset Park. Authorities suspected her story was a lie after no one at the park recalled seeing the woman and child together.
Smith also faces a murder charge and awaits trial.
Smith and Oxford, her boyfriend, were arrested after Daniel’s body was found Sept. 3, 2018, in a remote area near Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Prosecutors have said the boy’s body showed signs of ongoing abuse.
Police said his 2-year-old brother was taken by child protective services and transported to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, where staffers discovered signs of physical abuse.
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