Man Arrested In Connection To One-Year-Old's Death

A mother faces heartbreak after finding her child dying inside the family's home Sunday afternoon.

Police say that the woman's boyfriend, 29-year-old Phillip Howard has been arrested for child neglect resulting in death.

“His story was, he woke up, went to see the child, changed his diaper, was going to take it into the kitchen to feed it. Along the way, he trips over a rug, falls to the floor, landing on the baby on the floor, and says that's how the baby died,” Del City Police Major Ted Kleber said.

Officers say the child is one-year-old Kaleb Forsberg, and that his mother was at work when she got a call from Howard saying Kaleb was unresponsive.

Here is an excerpt of the 911 call as she raced home to be with her child:

Caller: He said he was barely breathing. I am pulling into the driveway now.

Dispatch: Calm down and go inside, I need you to give me some pertinent information.

Officers say what happened to Kaleb was no accident.

Kaleb was found with multiple leg fractures, bruising on his face, and investigators say he died of blunt force trauma.

“There was a large swelling, about the size of an apple by the time we got there. It was increasing in size on the right side of his head. So, probably from a brain bleed,” Major Kleber said.

Officer Kleber says the boy had been injured hours before anyone called for help. And that Kaleb’s mother had deleted text messages from her phone that they found on Howard’s device.

They say the couple had moved into town from Elk City a few weeks prior, and that Howard has a criminal history.

“We did find drugs in the house. We found marijuana. He is a meth user. He has a county warrant out of Beckham County for domestic assault and battery and also drug use,” Major Kleber said.

Officers say Howard was intoxicated when they arrived at the residence near Southeast 36th Street and East Avenue.

There had been a party the night before to celebrating Howard’s birthday, according to police.