Burlco parents indicted for murder in 2018 suffocation death of infant son

The parents of a 4-month-old boy who died after being placed under a comforter last year at the motel where they had been living have been indicted for murder, the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office said Tuesday.

William Herring, 42, and Brianna Brochhausen, 23, whose residence at the time was the Hilltop Motel in Springfield Township, face charges of first-degree murder and endangering the welfare of a child.

Prosecutors said Herring and Brochhausen were frustrated because their son, Hunter, would not stop crying on the night of Feb. 14, 2018, so they placed him in what they called a “timeout." They put the baby on his stomach on the motel bed and covered him with a comforter while they went outside to smoke cigarettes.

The baby was not breathing and was unresponsive when the parents returned to the room about 10 minutes later. Paramedics and Springfield Township police officers were called.

Hunter was taken to Virtua Memorial Hospital in Mount Holly but was immediately transferred to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where he died March 3. The cause of death was determined to be “complications of suffocation,” according to Philadelphia Deputy Chief Medical Examiner Albert Chu.

The indictment was returned Thursday. An arraignment will be scheduled in Superior Court in Mount Holly.