A 53-year-old Lee County man has been indicted in the death of his son.

Auburn police on Tuesday announced a grand jury indicted Mark Edward Watford on a charge of felony murder.

He was previously charged with aggravated child abuse. His wife, Kelly West Watford, was arrested last year on a felony murder warrant.

Auburn police and fire medics were dispatched Wednesday, June 14, 2023, to the 2200 block of Core Drive on a report of a child medical distress.

They arrived to find the 6-year-old boy unresponsive and not breathing. The boy was taken to East Alabama Medical Center where life-saving efforts continued, police said Thursday.

The measures were unsuccessful, and doctors pronounced the child dead.

His name has not been released.

Investigators quickly determined suspicious circumstances, police said. Evidence consistent with drowning was discovered during medical treatment and the subsequent autopsy.

Additionally, police said, evidence showed the child appeared to be extremely malnourished and had sustained prolonged willful abuse and maltreatment.

Following the couple’s initial arrests, detectives continued to investigate the case. Additional evidence was collected to include forensic evidence from the child’s autopsy.

Both parents are being held without bond in the Lee County Jail.