AUSTIN (November 18, 2009)--The McLennan County Grand Jury returned a murder charging capital murder Wednesday against Alfred Kilinus Cornelius, 20, of Waco who was arrested in September in Austin after his release from the Austin State Hospital and charged in the death of his 15-month-old nephew.

Waco police officers found 15-month-old Kamari Jae Edwards unconscious and not breathing just before midnight on Aug. 15 after responding to a call at the Village Apartments at 1100 N. 6th St.

They performed CPR until paramedics and firefighters arrived.

The infant was taken to Hillcrest Baptist medical Center, but never regained consciousness and was later pronounced dead.

An autopsy determined that the infant died of mechanical asphyxiation, but other details of the death have not been released.

According to the affidavit submitted for the arrest warrant, Cornelius was caring for the infant and was the only person in the apartment.

He placed the 911 call to report the infant was not breathing.

The affidavit says investigators later determined that Cornelius “did force or block the oxygen”, causing the boy’s death.

Cornelius, whom police described as a relative of the infant, told officers that the child had drowned or choked on something, police said Monday.

“Cornelius seemed very incoherent when officers tried to find out what had happened to the child,” police said Monday.

He was taken to Providence Health Center for psychiatric evaluation and was later transferred to the Austin State Hospital on an emergency psychiatric warrant.