A father is accused of leaving his two-year-old son to die after a crash that occurred while he was fleeing from a Philadelphia-area Walmart where he had allegedly stolen a pair of television speakers.
Christopher Kuhn, 27, of Hamilton, New Jersey, remained in the Bucks County jail Wednesday on third-degree murder, homicide by vehicle, endangering the welfare of children and a half-dozen other charges.
Tullytown police say Kuhn fled the store at Levittown Town Center early Tuesday afternoon after taking the Vizio speakers worth $228. The Trentonian reported that he was seen using his son as a human shield while being pursued by security guards.
Cowardly act: Police say Christopher Kuhn, 27 (pictured left in mugshot) left his two-year-old son, Qadan (pictured together, right), to die after crashing his Jeep while fleeing from a theft
Kuhn ran a red light and collided with two other vehicles, and kept running even after his son was thrown from his gold Jeep (pictured right)
A witness told police Kuhn was seen covering his license plate with a sweatshirt outside the big-box store as his toddler son climbed into the gold-colored SUV on his own and was not buckled in, reported CBS Philadelphia.
Police say Kuhn, driving with a suspended license, ran a red light and collided with two other vehicles, and kept running even after his son was ejected onto the roadway on Route 13. According to officials, Kuhn stepped over his child’s lifeless body, briefly looked at him and took off running.
Police officers caught up to Kuhn after a short foot chase. Law enforcement officials noted that they were not pursuing the suspect when the three-car crash occurred.
The mortally injured boy was rushed to Lower Bucks Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Nobody else was hurt in the crash.
Police say Kuhn’s son was not in a car seat, even though there was one present in the vehicle. As of Wednesday afternoon, the toddler has not been officially identified, but posts discovered on the suspect’s Facebook account indicate that the boy’s name was Qadan Kuhn.
Kuhn’s Facebook page is filled with photos showing him spending time with Qadan
The father’s social media account is filled with picture after picture showing Kuhn happily posing with his son: horsing around in a car, playing superhero dress-up, frolicking in a pool.
One image shows the father and son sitting on the couch, with a caption at the bottom that reads, ‘Best Friends.’
Kuhn is being held on $5million cash bail. He is due back in court for a preliminary hearing next Tuesday.
The 27-year-old has had run-ins with the law prior to this week’s tragedy: last year, he was charged with aggravated assault, terroristic threats, endangering the welfare of a child and weapons offenses after he allegedly attacked Qadan’s mother and pressed a screwdriver against her neck while she cradled their son, who was nine months old at the time, reported The Trentonian.
In 2015, Kuhn pleaded guilty to theft by deception, resisting arrest and terroristic threats. He was sentenced to a fine and three years of probation.