SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) - Bond is set at $2 million cash-only for a 36-year-old man charged in the death of his 18-month-old stepson in southeastern South Dakota.
Keith Cornett was charged Thursday with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, manslaughter, child abuse and possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia. He remains in jail.
Officers were called to a Dell Rapids home Wednesday afternoon where they found the child unresponsive with traumatic injuries. The toddler, Hayden Wigton, could not be revived.
The Argus Leader reports Minnehaha County State’s Attorney Aaron McGowan says an autopsy found six blows to the child’s head and bite marks.
Authorities say the boy’s mother and her husband had been staying at the home with a couple who was renting the house. The mother, Kristine Cornett, and the couple renting the house traveled to Sioux Falls Wednesday morning. The couple later returned and found the child unresponsive.
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