Capital Murder Conviction: El Paso man killed 13-month-old with ‘football hold’, wrestling moves

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- Marvin Lake was convicted of the 2021 capital murder of 13-month-old Ahren DeHart today. He was sentenced to life in prison for the murder.

In April of 2021 Lake was babysitting several young children while the children's mothers were at work. When they returned, investigators said they found DeHart unresponsive.

The young boy was rushed to a hospital and placed on life support, police said, with doctors determining there were multiple injuries including a fractured skull. Doctors told police the injuries were not the result of an accident.

DeHart died on a Friday and police arrested Lake on Monday. Police booked him into the El Paso County Detention Facility.

According to a police affidavit obtained by ABC-7, Lake admitted to performing some wrestling moves on the toddler and the boy hit his head on a futon and fractured his skull.

The police affidavit stated Lake told police he was upset the 13-month-old boy had destroyed a pillow, so he grabbed the boy using what he described as a "tight football hold." Lake said he had anger issues and didn't realize his own strength. The two other children who were being watched by Lake at the time also appeared to have injuries.

A relative who spoke with ABC-7 a week after the murder said Lake was a family friend of the DeHarts. The relative explained that Lake was in the army with DeHart's father and that Lake's fiancé worked with DeHart's mother. Lake had babysitted for the DeHarts from time to time. On the day of the murder, the family's normal babysitter was not available.

"They had no reason to ever suspect that this man that they were comfortable with would beat their child to death," the relative told ABC-7 in a 2021 interview.