Boy Beaten Over Slice of Birthday Cake Has Died

Police say a 9-year-old Maryland boy has died after he was allegedly handcuffed and beaten for eating a piece of birthday cake without permission. Hagerstown police Capt. Paul Kifer says Jack Garcia died yesterday at Children's National Medical Center in Washington. Kifer says police will confer this afternoon with Washington County prosecutors about bringing additional charges in the case. The mother's boyfriend, 30-year-old Robert Wilson, was charged last week with first-degree assault and child abuse. His public defender hasn't returned calls from the AP.

The mother's brother told police the boy was handcuffed last Tuesday as punishment for stealing the cake. He says Wilson hit the boy in stomach after the handcuffs were removed. It's not clear whose cake it was. The boy had had a birthday three days earlier. (More child abuse stories.)