The parents of a 1-year-old boy have been arrested and charged with felony murder after he was allegedly punched and killed by his father. The authorities said 20-year-old Jaimie Howard "chose to look away" as her 21-year-old boyfriend A'kym Henderson repeatedly punched their son, baby King, in the head.

The mother then took the baby to a nearby hospital in Macon, Georgia, early January 25 and claimed she found him unresponsive. The baby was pronounced dead at the hospital and there were no visible signs of abuse on his body.

A post-mortem examination, however, found he had suffered from a head injury, reported the Daily Mail. According to the Bibb County Sheriff's Office, Henderson was arrested that same day when an investigation found he had hit the baby.

A'kym Henderson (Source: Bibb County Sheriff's Office)

The authorities said when the investigators interviewed Howard on the morning of January 29, they found she was actually there when the fatal strike was made on her baby's head but failed to do anything.

A statement from the sheriff's office read: "Howard did not seek medical attention for the infant after the incident until the infant became unresponsive."

The mother was then arrested and charged with felony murder. According to an arrest warrant, the mother was accused of "acting in concert" with her boyfriend as she "attempted to cover up this incident by initially stating she was only woken up by the victim struggling to breathe". She chose to stand by that account when she was first questioned by the authorities but changed her story completely later.

The warrant says Howard finally admitted she saw Henderson punching the baby in the head several times and "chose to look away". According to the warrant, King suffered multiple complex skull fractures, scalp hemorrhages, and a swollen brain.

Jaimie Howard (Source: Bibb County Sheriff's Office)

Aaron Beaver, King's uncle and Howard's half-brother, told the Macon Telegraph his sister now wants a private autopsy to be conducted on the body because she doesn't believe Henderson is guilty. The uncle then described Howard and Henderson as loving parents who stopped going out to party and stayed at home to look after their child, who celebrated his first birthday January 20.

Beaver said: "They gave all that up when King was born. She and A’kym put that baby on a pedestal." He also said Howard has been "the sweetest little girl since she was 10" and "wouldn’t harm a butterfly". Beaver still cannot explain what happened to his nephew but said his sister is "heartbroken".

Howard has reportedly told family members she wants the baby cremated so she can wear his ashes in an hourglass necklace around her neck. Both parents are currently being held at the Bibb Law Enforcement Center.

Investigators have asked anyone with information about the incident to contact the Bibb Sheriff’s Office at 478-751-7500 or call Macon Regional Crime Stoppers at 1-877-68CRIME.