Nathan Bridges pleaded guilty to the murder of 5-year-old Blu Rolland, the son of his girlfriend. Blu's sister also had scabs on her head that doctors determined were severe burns, according to the complaint.
An Arkansas man has pleaded guilty to murdering his girlfriend's son and then hiding the boy's body in the floor.
Nathan Bridges, 34, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse in the killing of 5-year-old Blu Rolland. He also entered an additional guilty plea to a charge of first-degree battery for an incident involving the victim's older sister.
The judge in the case then sentenced Bridges to 60 years in prison, the maximum sentence allowed under the guidelines of the plea agreement between prosecutors and the defendant.
The boy's mother, Ashley Rolland, faces charges of capital murder, abuse of a corpse, tampering with physical evidence, battery in the first degree, and permitting child abuse for her alleged role in her son's death. She is also facing additional charges of endangering the welfare of a child and permitting child abuse for the injuries her then-6-year-old daughter sustained at the hands of Bridges. She is awaiting trial and has yet to enter a plea.
A criminal complaint obtained by Inside Edition Digital says that authorities learned about Blu's death in December 2022 after the boy's grandmother contacted the Lee County Sheriff's Office and requested a welfare check for Blu and his sister.
Rolland then turned over her 6-year-old daughter to deputies but said Blu was not home at that time, according to the complaint.
Blu's sister had severe scab wounds on her head that her mother claimed were caused by an allergic reaction, but doctors determined the child had been severely burned, according to the complaint.
The children's grandfather then called deputies to say that he learned his grandson might be buried under the floorboards inside the home, according to the complaint.
"Deputies located where Blu was reported to be and found newly nailed-down boards. Deputies removed the boards and found disturbed earth underneath. Deputies removed the top layer of the Earth and found a child's flip-flop shoes and a red and blue blanket," the complaint says.
Those inside the house then had to exit the residence because of the "pungent odor of decay," the complaint says.
Authorities said Rolland soon confessed to police that Blu had bitten Bridges' finger when he put it in the boy's mouth so he took him into the bathroom and drowned him in the toilet, according to the complaint. Rolland said that she did nothing to stop this and came into the bathroom afterward to find Blu "struggling to breathe" and his body limp, according to the complaint.
Bridges then buried the boy in the floor and covered him up with some dirt and new floorboards, authorities said Rolland told them.
Her daughter had been severely burned when Bridges held her under steaming hot water in the bathtub, according to the complaint.
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