MISSOULA – A Montana man accused of smothering a 5-month-old boy has pleaded guilty to negligent homicide.
The Missoulian reports 26-year-old Marc Palmer was initially charged with deliberate homicide, but he pleaded guilty Monday to the lesser charge as part of a deal with prosecutors. He is scheduled to be sentenced July 18.
Emergency crews were called to a Missoula home early on March 30, 2016, on a report that a child was not breathing. An investigation determined the baby, Brayden Beal, had been smothered.
Palmer and the child’s mother had been staying with Palmer’s mother.
According to Montana’s sexual offender registry, Palmer was sentenced as a juvenile in 2007 for child rape and three counts of child molestation in Washington state.