17-month-old drowns in bathtub. Father claims he was asleep when it happened

COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A Cobb County father faces murder and child cruelty charges after his 17-month-old son drowned in a bathtub.

Police arrested Kenton Hamilton on Friday after the drowning happened Thursday night at his home off Windsor Court.

Channel 2 Action News obtained a copy of the arrest warrant for Hamilton, who said he was sleeping downstairs when the child drowned upstairs. A 4-year-old boy was also sleeping on the couch.

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Hamilton said the 17-month-old had been asleep on his chest and at one point got off of him and the couch. He claims the toddler walked up two flights of stairs and climbed into the bathtub.

Hamilton told investigators he didn’t notice the toddler was gone until his friend woke up him and they called 911, according to the warrants.

Kennesaw officers, Cobb firefighters and paramedics started CPR when they arrived at the scene. Paramedics took the child to Wellstar Kennestone Hospital, where doctors pronounced the boy dead.

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At the house, police found cocaine under the couch cushions where the two children were sleeping and guns inside the home, according to the warrants.

Hamilton was previously convicted of statutory rape charges and was not allowed to have a firearm as a convicted felon.

Hamilton faces the following charges: murder in the second degree, cruelty to children in the second degree, possession of a firearm by a felon and possession of cocaine.

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