Villa Rica cops responded to little Brentley Gore’s apartment Tuesday morning after his mother noticed bruises when she woke him up, according to WXIA-TV.
Her new  husband, Joshua Richards, himself the son of a police chief in Georgia broke down in tears as he made his first appearance on Monday after being charged with whipping to death his three-year-old stepson with a belt.
Led  into a courtroom in a lime-green jail garb, with handcuffs on his wrists and shackles around his ankles, to face a judge for the first time since the death of his stepson Brentley Gore on Sunday, courtroom footage showed the 21-year-old suspect weeping while answering the judge’s questions.

Richards was in tears as he faced the George

Responding EMTs “airlifted [Brently], to an Atlanta-area hospital with multiple skull fractures,” police Capt. Keith Shaddix said.
“There was some swelling around the eyes, some bruising that showed up on the forehead.”
The toddler succumbed to his injuries Sunday, police said.

Joshua Richards with his stepson and wife of eight Months. Authorities believe she was asleep in another room at the time of the assault

Richards’ wife, called police on January 23 to report that her son [seen right with her husband], was injured and would not wake up

An investigation determined that the boy’s stepfather, 21-year-old Joshua Richards — the son of Carollton Police Chief Josh Richards, had beaten him with a belt.
Police believe his mother was sleeping in a nearby room during the attack, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Richards was initially charged with aggravated assault, aggravated battery, first-degree cruelty to children and possession of marijuana, police said. A murder charge was added after Bentley’s death.
Denied bond during his first court appearance Wednesday,  Richards is being held at the Carroll County Jail, according to authorities. He is reportedly on suicide watch.