ROCKVILLE, Md. - A 17-year-old father has been charged in with the murder of his 2-year-old son, Montgomery County (web | news) police said.

Zjaire Williams was pronounced dead Wednesday, Jan. 7, after first responders were sent to the father's house, in the 9400 block of Merust Lane in Gaithersburg, for the report of an unresponsive child about 6:20 a.m.

The boy was taken to Shady Grove Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy ruled the death a homicide, finding the boy had died from multiple injuries to his head and abdomen.

Hospital workers discovered bruises on the boy's body and cuts to his upper and lower lips, police said. The boy, who normally lives with his mother in Damascus, was dropped off at his father's house in Gaithersburg about 2 a.m.Wednesday, police said.

The boy was reportedly in good condition when he was dropped off at his father's house.

Police say detectives were told that the father, Darryl Eugene Powell, 17, and son watched TV for a while and then both went to sleep on two separate sofas in the living room. Powell woke up in the early morning and could not wake his son, who was lying face down on cushions on the floor, police said. Powell called family members for help and then called 911, police said.

The child's father, Darryl Eugene Powell, 17, of Gaithersburg, was arrested Thursday evening and charged as an adult with first-degree murder. He is currently being held without bond at the Montgomery County Detention Center.

How the boy was injured remains under investigation, police said.

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