PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — A man in Portsmouth has been found guilty following the death of his 2-year-old son in 2021.
On Thursday, after a four-day trial, a jury found Rocky A. Mugynei II guilty of voluntary manslaughter and child abuse/neglect. His sentencing date has been set for January 11, 2023.
Then 18-year-old Mugnynei was one of two people arrested in 2021 in connection with the death of a 2-year-old in Portsmouth. The other defendant was then-18-year-old Talaysia Nelson. Both were initially charged with second-degree murder and felony child abuse.
On Feb. 9, 2021, Portsmouth emergency medical crews responded to the apartment on Suburban Circle around 3:20 p.m. to find the 2-year-old boy on the floor of the hallway and his father, Mugynei, performing CPR, court paperwork states.
The boy’s mother and paternal grandmother were also standing nearby.
The child was taken to Bon Secours Maryview Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead about an hour later.
During the police investigation, the three people said they had left the boy sitting on the couch watching television as they took a call in the next room. When they came back, they said they discovered the boy unresponsive and laying on his side.
The medical examiner found the boy had bruises over most of his body, including “extensive” bruising on his neck. There were also bruises on his forehead, back of the head, arms, chest and left leg. There were scratches and abrasions on his arms, chest, left cheek, and above the right eye.
The boy had more than 150cc of blood pooled in his abdomen, and there were two lacerations on his liver.
Mugynei told police he spanked the child when he misbehaved, including when he defecated on himself while toilet training.
He said he used a belt for the spankings and accidentally hit the boy in the genitals while spanking one time. He said his fingernails sometimes scratched the boy when he grabbed him.