BREMERTON—A former Navy Corpsman was charged with second degree murder June 19 in the death of a 19-month-old boy.

An autopsy report found brain swelling and over 20 bruises along Kaden Ray Richardson’s scalp, ranging from “dime size to 50-cent pieces, and most of which were circular in shape.”

David Betancourt, 28, was alone with Kaden for the final 11 hours of his life April 7. Kaden was the son of Betancourt’s girlfriend, Kylee Richardson, 18.

Betancourt lived with Richardson and was the primary caretaker.

He told police he placed Kaden in his playpen for a “time out” and then walked away before

finding him 15-20 minutes later lying face down and unresponsive, according to documents.

Betancourt told police he placed Kaden on a bed face down and then began performing CPR by pressing on Kaden’s back for 2-3 minutes.

A detective questioned Betancourt’s technique, stating he’d never heard of it before. Betancourt said it was how he was taught in the Navy, according to documents.

While in the Navy, Betancourt completed Basic Hospital Corps School and Field Medical Service Technician School. He received exemplary performance evaluations, the documents said.

An autopsy report later found bruising on Kaden’s lungs, possibly from CPR attempts.

Following CPR, Betancourt called Richardson. He told her, “Something’s wrong with Kaden, he’s not breathing,” documents said.

Richardson arrived several minutes later. Betancourt was “running around the apartment frantically” while Kaden lay unattended, police said.

Once she learned that Betancourt hadn’t called 911, Richardson called Cencom 911, who gave Betancourt proper CPR techniques.

A detective asked Betancourt why he didn’t immediately call 911 upon finding Kaden. Betancourt told him he was afraid police would find drugs in the house.

“I informed Betancourt that preserving little Kaden’s life was far more important that simple illegal drugs,” the detective wrote. “Betancourt seemed taken back by my statement, as if shocked I cared more (for) a breathless, unresponsive baby than simple narcotics.”

Betancourt admitted to disciplining Kaden for crying that day by flicking him in the head with a finger, according to documents.

Betancourt told police he also used to “knock” Kaden on the head with his knuckles, but stopped when Richardson said she didn’t like the sound.

An autopsy report found brain swelling and over 20 bruises along his scalp, ranging from “dime size to 50-cent pieces, and most of which were circular in shape.”

Betancourt claimed Kaden hadn’t suffered any strikes or falls during the day nor had he harmed Kaden in any way, documents said.