HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – Sherrick Washington, 26, sits behind bars, charged with beating his girlfriend's 5-year-old son to death.
Washington's relatives say it's hard for them to believe he's the same man who served his country in Iraq as a soldier in the U.S. Army.
Washington is charged with capital murder in the death of Amarie Daniels.
Prosecutors say Washington accused his 27-year-old girlfriend of seeing her ex-husband behind his back. Amarie was awakened by the pair's arguing and walked into the room.
Prosecutors say Washington punched the boy in the chest with a closed fist and threw him against the wall. According to court documents, Washington then hit him with a belt, threw him into the refrigerator, the furniture and then onto the floor. Prosecutors say the 5-year-old was beaten so badly he had a fractured skull, fractured pelvis and numerous other bruises and abrasions.
"The man you see on TV, I don't know who that is," said Derrick Thomas, Washington's brother.
Thomas said while there is no excuse for what happened, he insists his brother hasn't been the same since he returned home from Iraq in 2010. "We've been trying to get the help he needed and he's been seeking help himself as well through the VA," Thomas said.
Thomas says his brother is private and recently became distant. He says his heart goes out to the Daniels family. "Just send my prayers up to them and hope they stay strong through these troubled times as well," Thomas said.
Prosecutors say the 5-year-old's mother initially told them her son had been injured by some boys who had jumped him while he was outside playing. They say she later contacted homicide investigators and said she hadn't been truthful about the circumstances surrounding her son's death. Police say evidence collected at the scene and injuries to the boy's body did not match the mother's initial story.
Washington is being held without bond in the Harris County Jail.