NJ Father Charged In Death Of 2-Year-Old Son

A father is accused of looking down at his dying 2-year-son, stepping over his body and fleeing police in Tullytown Tuesday afternoon.

Christopher D. Kuhn, 27, of Hamilton, New Jersey, was charged late Tuesday night with third-degree murder, homicide by vehicle, accidents involving death, retail theft, endangering the welfare of a child, reckless endangering a child, disobeying traffic control signals, driving while operating privilege is suspended and reckless driving.

Kuhn, according to police, stole a $228 sound system from the Tullytown Walmart with his young son in tow. He left the store and told a loss prevention officer they “can’t hold me here” as police were called.

Kuhn is alleged to have walk away from the store and to a gold Jeep parked near the Firestone Service Center. He placed his son in the SUV, put a sweatshirt over the licence plate and drove off. He traveled out the one-way exit on to Route 13 just past Levittown Parkway before crashing into two other vehicles while running a red light at the intersection of Levittown Town Center and Route 13.

Police said the SUV flipped and rolled, ejecting Kuhn’s young son and leaving him on the pavement of Route 13.

Kuhn looked down at his son’s near-lifeless body before he ran away, witnesses and police said.

Moments later, an officer chased down Kuhn and took him in to custody.

Nearby, officers and bystanders ran up to the dying little boy and did all they could to save his life, but it was not enough. Police said shortly after the crash that officers tried CPR to try to revive the boy.

Medics took the boy in an ambulance with a police escort to Lower Bucks Hospital in Bristol Township. It was there he was pronounced dead.

When officers at the scene asked Kuhn where the child was, he said “back there” and indicated the crash scene, according to court records.

Police said Kuhn was not helpful and uncooperative when police asked about the child and his identity.

Tullytown police Chief Daniel Doyle said the boy’s mother and Kuhn have been separated.

The violent crash did not leave any serious injuries to anyone in the other two vehicles, but Kuhn was transported to a hospital for evaluation following the crash.

Doyle said police were just pulling up at the Walmart when the crash happened and there was no pursuit of Kuhn’s vehicle.

Kuhn began to cry and shake as District Judge Robert Wagner arraigned him around 10:15 p.m. Tuesday in a courtroom filled with mostly reporters and a few members of the public. The 27-year-old, who will turn 28 next week, had to be held up by constables and spoke almost no words.

Kuhn was transported to the Bucks County Correctional Facility on $5 million bail after it was set by the district judge Tuesday night.

Court records showed that Kuhn pleaded guilty in a relatively minor 2014 drug-related case in Morrisville. He was sentenced to probation.

In 2016, New Jersey prosecutors said in court that Kuhn held a screwdriver to the neck of the boy’s mother after she said he could not see the infant, according to a Trentonian article.

The area of the crash was blocked for several hours by fire police as Tullytown authorities and members of the Bucks County District Attorney’s Homicide by Vehicle Division collected evidence.

Editor’s Note: All individuals arrested or charged with a crime are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The story was compiled using information from police and public court documents.