He laid down his girlfriend's dead son — and set off a gas explosion to hide evidence, cops say
Police say Ricky Carter needed a coverup.
The 27-year-old from Little Rock, Ark., was staying at his girlfriend’s house on Dec. 21 when her 2-year-old son Ryatt twice wandered overnight into Carter’s room vomiting, according to court documents obtained by KNWA.
The first visit to the bedroom happened without incident. But the second time, police say Carter yanked the child toward the bed by his ankles, causing the toddler to bang his head, KNWA reported.
Ryatt then began to shake, and Carter attempted to revive him with CPR, THV11 reported. Once that failed, he came up with a solution to disguise what happened: setting off a gas explosion, police said.
He put the child on a bed and turned on the gas in the back of the house for just under an hour, KNWA wrote. Carter then ignited the explosion with a lighter.
Arkansas State Police officers arrived to the house to check out what caused the loud bang, the department wrote on Facebook. That’s when officers noticed a fire at one house and rushed to help Carter carry out four children who were inside.
Carter and the three other children made it out alive, but Ryatt was declared dead 23 minutes after the explosion at a local hospital, according to 5News. Their mom was at work at the time of the explosion.
A county coroner arrived later that day and determined the toddler likely didn’t die from the fire — he was already in full rigor, which happens between two to six hours after death, 5News wrote.
The toddler’s cause of death was determined to be “traumatic head and abdomen injuries,” according to the Democrat-Gazette.
Carter allegedly admitted to police that he set off the powerful gas explosion to hide his involvement in Ryatt’s death. That contradicted his first story to police that he lit a cigarrete, which accidentally set off the fire, the Democrat-Gazette wrote.
Police wrote that they charged the 27-year-old with first-degree murder and arson.
This story was originally published December 29, 2017 at 10:21 AM with the headline "He laid down his girlfriend's dead son — and set off a gas explosion to hide evidence, cops say."