More News

The 17-year-old from Gaithersburg accused of killing his 2-year-old son last month was indicted by a Montgomery County grand jury Thursday on one charge each of first-degree murder and first-degree child abuse.

Darryl Eugene Powell, of the 9400 block of Merust Lane of Gaithersburg, was arrested Jan. 8 after an autopsy determined that his son Zjaire Williams died the day before of "multiple injuries" — revealed by bruises inside his mouth and on his body — while the boy was in his father's custody.

Powell is being held without bond at the Montgomery County Correctional Facility in Boyds. His trial in Montgomery County Circuit Court is scheduled to begin in May.

He does not yet have an attorney, according to court records.

According to police charging documents and court records, Zjaire had been living with his 17-year-old mother, Todzja Williams, in Damascus but was with Powell when the injuries were sustained. According to those records, police and rescue crews responding to a 9-1-1 call found Zjaire unresponsive at Powell's mother's home on Merust Lane at around 6:19 a.m. on Jan. 7. He was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead.

A spokesman for Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy declined to comment.

In February 2007 — when Zjaire was barely 2 months old — Williams filed a paternity suit against Powell. A blood test established that Powell was the boy's father, records show. A July 2007 hearing to determine child support was postponed so that Powell could "complete a court-ordered program for behavior rehabilitation," according to court records.

The case was dismissed in November.