Man accused of suffocated 1-year-old son so he could play video games

Citrus County sheriff's detectives have arrested a man on charges that he suffocated his crying 1-old-year old son so he could continue to play video games.

Cody Eugene Wygant, 24, of Homosassa was arrested Thursday on charges of third degree murder and willful child neglect. He was jailed without bail.

Sheriff's officials said rescuers were sent to Wygant's home Thursday morning because of a report of a child not breathing, The boy, Daymeon Wygant, was taken to Seven Rivers Regional Medical Center and pronounced dead.

In an interview with detectives, Wygant admitted that he suffocated his son because the boy was crying, preventing him from playing online Xbox games. Wygant placed his hand over the boy's mouth for at least three minutes, then put him in a playpen and covered him with several layers of bedding, sheriff's officials said.

Wygant played video games for more than an hour, then watched three episodes of the television show Fringe, according to sheriff's officials. He didn't check on the boy for about five hours. When he did, the boy was unresponsive.

Wygant, who moved to Florida in January and is unemployed, has a criminal record in California that includes a rape charge, officials said.