Dad Who Claimed 6-Year-Old's Punctured Lung and Brain Bleed Were Self-Inflicted Admits to Murder By KC Baker

An Indiana man has admitted to murdering his young son after police were initially told that he had become unresponsive because he “hit himself,” prosecutors said.

On Oct. 9, Franklin Elmore, Jr., 29, of Elkhart, pleaded guilty to murdering his son Justin, 6, in August, according to online court records.

His wife, the boy’s stepmother, Cheyenne Elmore, 27, was also arrested and charged with murder. She pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial.

Elmore entered into a plea agreement with prosecutors shortly before his trial was set to begin.

During the hearing at which Elmore pleaded guilty, his attorney asked him, “Did you knowingly kill another human being, Victim 1?” WNDU reports. 

Elmore replied, “Yes, sir.”

His attorney then asked him, “Do you acknowledge you physically beat your son and he died?” and he replied, “I did not mean it.”

He did acknowledge that the way he disciplined the boy was not consistent with normal parenting, the outlet reports.

The fatal beating came to light on Aug. 3, when EMTs responded to the family’s home about a report of an unresponsive child.

The 911 caller reported that the child had allegedly “hit himself,” the Elkhart County prosecutor said in a statement in August.

But medical personnel at Elkhart General Hospital said they believed some of the injuries sustained by the boy were not self-inflicted, including a traumatic brain injury and a punctured lung, the prosecutor’s office said.

Investigators claim they learned that Cheyenne had complained previously to her husband about her stepson’s behavior, and that the two would allegedly discipline the child by “forcing him to engage in lengthy physical exercise and ‘whoop’ him with a belt or a hand,” the prosecutor said in the statement.

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After the child died, investigators found “numerous” bruises and abrasions on his body.

The investigation revealed that right before the boy died, his father “attacked the child in his ‘playroom,’” the statement says.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 25.

Their attorneys did not respond to requests for comment.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.