FREDERICKSBURG, Va. -- David John Marcussen, 33, of Village Parkway in Fredericksburg, was charged with felony murder, involuntary manslaughter, two counts of cruelty to children and one count of child neglect after investigators said his foster son died after a bath. Marcussen turned himself into the Stafford County Sheriff’s Office Friday and was jailed at the Rappahannock Regional Jail under no bond.
The investigation began in January when 11-month-old Ka’ron Mason was taken to a hospital with burns to his face, torso and neck. The baby boy's injuries were so severe, doctors air-lifted him to VCU Medical Center for treatment. Mason died February 1.
Detectives determined the child was burned while receiving a bath from Marcussen, his foster father. Baby Ka'ron had been with the foster family since July 2014.
Neighbors said the couple lived in this home for five years and they never really saw anything unusual. But they did on Super Bowl Sunday when they saw officers going to the home and the family left for about two weeks.
Neighbors said they're stunned to know the father is charged with murder and even more stunned to learn they had a foster child, because they neighbors said they never saw that child at all.
"They had like Jesus stuff and God stuff everywhere pictures of their family but never pictures of a foster child," neighbor Morgan Painter said. "In the bathroom they also had Bible verses all over the walls and stuff."
Police would not release additional information this case. Anyone with information about Marcussen or Ka’ron Mason can email the information here.
