FRANKLIN TOWNSHIP, NJ (Somerset County) – A Middlesex County man has been accused in the death of his 4-year-old biological child in Franklin Township, according to Somerset County First Assistant Prosecutor Annemarie L. Mueller.
On Monday, February 19, 2024, at around 3:24 p.m., police responded to a local hotel for the report of an unresponsive 4-year-old male child. Upon arrival, Sean Tate, 36, of Woodbridge Township, reported that his 4-year-old child had fallen off a toilet two days earlier, sustaining an injury and hitting his head on an air conditioning unit, Mueller said.
Tate explained that the injury from the fall was visible, so he applied ice before going to bed on February 19. When he woke up, Tate discovered that the child was unresponsive and immediately called 9-1-1. The child was transported to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 5:24 p.m., Mueller said.
Medical personnel noted that the child was emaciated and appeared to have sustained multiple injuries, Mueller said.
An autopsy was conducted by the New Jersey Northern Regional Medical Examiner’s Office. On February 4, 2025, the child’s manner of death was ruled a homicide, Mueller said.
As a result of this investigation, on Tuesday, February 18, 2025, Tate was arrested in Woodbridge Township without incident and charged with first-degree murder and second-degree endangering the welfare of a child. He is currently being held in the Somerset County Jail pending a detention hearing, Mueller said.
The investigation remains ongoing, Mueller said.
