On Wednesday, 41-year-old Jason Shorter went before a judge in Parma on one count of aggravated assault.
He is accused of stabbing his 22-month-old son, Nicholas, to death.
Also on Wednesday, Parma Police released surveillance video that shows Shorter making what appears to be a confession. (Viewer discretion advised).
It was from 9 p.m. Saturday night, when Shorter knocked on the door of the police department, which was locked.
“Do you have a warrant?” an officer asks.
“No. Attempted murder, suicide. Suicide failed. Turning myself in,” Shorter answers.
“Who did you hurt?” the officer asks. “My son,” Shorter answers, then goes on to say the boy is “almost two” and in his car.
When the officer asks whether the boy is breathing, Shorter shakes his head no.
Police soon borrow his keys, unlock the car, and find the lifeless boy in the trunk. He had been stabbed in the chest.
Back inside, police led Shorter to a chair where they saw he had self-inflicted cuts on his arms, wrists, and chest.
Police said Wednesday they are not sure what led up to the stabbings and they are not ruling out additional charges.
Shorter’s attorney, Mark Cicero, said his client had never been convicted of a felony, but did have “a few OVI’s” on his record. He said he was also his mother’s primary caretaker.
A judge set bond at $1 million.
Records reveal that Nicholas’s biological mother lives in Wickliffe and was recently involved in a custody battle. Earlier this month, she was given primary custody.
The father could have the boy on weekends. When he did not return him as scheduled, police say the mother called for a welfare check.
They say it was at the very same time he was knocking on their door to report what happened.