AP/ February 11, 2009, 1:48 PM

Cops: Dad Killed Son Over Child Support

A man who initially told police gunmen kidnapped his 2?-year-old son was arrested Saturday, accused of committing an "extremely hideous" murder because he was ordered to pay child support, Police Superintendent Warren Riley said.

Danny Platt confessed, told police where to find the child's body and has been booked on a charge of first-degree murder in the death of Ja' Shawn Powell, police said.

"He had said he would kill either his wife or his child before he paid child support," which he recently had been ordered to do, Riley said.

Riley said he did not know the amount of child support and would not describe how the boy was killed, saying the coroner would do that after the autopsy was complete. The coroner's spokesman did not immediately return a call.

"The mother is in a safe place," Riley said.

Although he had visiting rights, Platt, 22, of New Orleans, had never visited the boy until he picked him up Friday, Riley said.

Police put out a notice Saturday asking people to look for the boy and saying his father had told them three men with dreadlocks and AK-47 rifles had piled out of an SUV and kidnapped Ja' Shawn shortly before midnight Friday.

"His story never really added up," Riley said. "He was a suspect from the very beginning."

Riley said Platt eventually confessed and told officers where to find the body.

Police spokesman officer Janssen Valencia said he did not know if Platt has an attorney.

Platt had only a couple of "very minor" previous arrests, Riley said.

"How does an individual - because he's ordered to pay child support to take care of a kid ... believe that this is so much pressure that he would face - he would do this hideous act to his own child, or to any child, and think that is a remedy to paying child support?" Riley said. "I mean there are some sick individuals in this society, and this gentleman is clearly one."
© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
84 Comments Add a Comment
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tae_rican21 says:
SO LIKE I SAID WHEN ASKED A QUESTION GIVE AN ANSWER NOT AN OPINION .. AND LIKE I SAID THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH RACE JUST A DUMB FOOL WHO CHOSE TO DO A STUPID THING. POINT BLANK PERIOD! STICK TO THE STORY GIVEN ABOVE!.
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diemkeynigs says:
G. SERIAL KILLERS AND BABY EATERS BECAUSE OF SATAN!!
Posted by thedarkgod2

Ooohhh yeah, you''re a goner alright. Jesus, get therapy and get back on your meds you wack job.
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diemkeynigs says:
A WOMAN can s.e.x ANYTIME SHE wants. Can a man do the same?
Posted by thedarkgod2

That would be YES you ridiculous moronic idiot.
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dannyg785 says:
This has nothing to do with race. This man is just a sick individual. I hope they execute him.
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tae_rican21 says:
ALL THIS *** SAID BELOW IS NOT EVEN CALLED FOR..LIKE ALL THAT SAID IS WHY THE SON WAS SHOT.. JUST BACKWARDS THINKIN! SOUNDS LIKE SUM 1 HAS A BITTER PAST BLSTIN IT ALL ON THE WEB LOL..(READ BELOW) HA!

"You''''re asking WHY people don''''t act responsibly? Ask why black men are by far the largest perpetrators of unwed pregnancies and single mother housholds in the US. Ask why black men are so fundamentally inappropriate and irresponsible when it comes to raising families, controlling their own impulses, and doing the "right" thing, instead of whatever they can get away with" ((NOW *** IS ALL LAH DAY SH*T! NO 1 ASKED THAT! ) !!!
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tae_rican21 says:
people need to understand its not about race and stick to the issue that this man is just a *** fool! every race has bad statistics so lets just leave that alone cause not one race is perfect and blaming it on race of why he killed his son is called ignorant and u need to educate ya self. if you guna throw out a black mans statistics throw out everyones. people just be yappin wit no since and reasoning behind the REAL REASON why the son was shot by his own daddy! like this is what black people do to get out of child support. NO THATS WHAT THIS FOOL DID! and i hope he is locked up for ever!
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shanney78 says:
You people are a joke. A child''s life was taken and it''s not the mother''s fault for filing for child support. When a child is conceived there is "responsibility". Bottom line, this innocent child was brought into this world. Just because this man was a pathetic excuse for a human being does NOT mean that he shouldn''t be required to help support this child. No matter whose choice it was to bring this baby into the world, 2 consenting adults conceived a child. Do not blame this on the mother but on the son of a *** who thought it was simply "okay" to kill someone just to avoid his responsibilities. So if he doesn''t want to pay rent does he kill his landlord? I can''t believe the ignorance of some of you!
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honestabe8 says:
There are DEMON-CRAT pinko liberal in this forum bringing Bush into the mix.

Posted by wvu7462

And you are bringing liberals into it. You are as bad as they are.
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dnc4evr89 says:
Lets just save the taxpayers alot of money and bring back public hanging......
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hatesthecolt says:
When poeple don''''t want the responsibilit of children, why don''''t they either: A. Keep it in their pants; or B. Use a condom; or C. Choose not to be sexually active? Many in our society see it as being perfectly acceptable to destroy their children before they are born. Maybe the act of killing the son outside of the uterus was confused in his mind with the act of killing pre-birth and he couldn''''t tell the difference. Well, he certainly won''''t have to pay child support now; I hope he enjoys his life behind bars.

Posted by leeanna58

There''s a "D" choice leanna, and that is to get a legal abortion. Of course there are those that would say once conceived you should have to have an unwanted baby because abortion is murder, but look what this little boy went through.

Adoption? How many Americans do you think are waiting in line for African American babies. They''d rather go all the way to Eastern Europe for white babies or even China or Korea first. We are still a racist nation whether we want to admit it to ourselves or not.
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