Overdose death of Bucks boy, 2, now murder case
For months, investigators were unsure how - and, more important, why - a 2-year-old Bucks County boy ingested a fatal dose of prescription painkillers while in his father's care.
For months, investigators were unsure how - and, more important, why - a 2-year-old Bucks County boy ingested a fatal dose of prescription painkillers while in his father's care.
So they charged Coco Wallace with a general count of criminal homicide, which covers a range of possibilities, from negligence to murder.
Their perspective changed in June, when an informant in the Bucks County prison told police that Wallace admitted to him that he killed his son, Sebastian, at their Middletown Township apartment in October to get back at the boy's mother, according to a new police report admitted into evidence this week.
Wallace believed the woman was cheating on him when they were dating and was unsure whether the boy was his, according to the informant's alleged claims.
"Coco Wallace was crying at the time, and had asked God for forgiveness for what he had done," the police report said.
Wallace later denied to police that he ever admitted harming his son, saying only that he showed the informant photos of his children, which he kept in a Bible, the police report said. Wallace also said the informant sold drugs in the jail and was angry that Wallace wouldn't buy any.
Whatever the truth may be, the new information has helped to push back Wallace's trial date to November, more than a year after the boy died from eating triple the amount of pills that would kill an adult.
Wallace's attorney, John Kerrigan, said the informant's claims have "thrown a monkey wrench into the case." He also cast doubt on his credibility, saying that the informant was trying to get leniency for drug charges.
"I think jailhouse confessions are seriously questionable," Kerrigan added. "Why would somebody maintaining their innocence say something to a complete stranger?"
Law enforcement officials now are categorizing Sebastian's death as a murder. His father was the only person caring for Sebastian in the hours leading up to his death, police said. The mother lives in North Carolina.
"We intend to vigorously prosecute the defendant for the murder of his 2-year-old son," Matt Weintraub, Bucks County's chief of prosecution, said in an email. "Justice will be served for both of them at trial."
