A man serving time in a state prison admitted to suffocating his infant child in 2011 in prison letters to investigators, according to the Blount County Sheriff's Office.
Tony Lee Light, 27, of Louisville Tennessee, is charged with criminal homicide, the sheriff's office said.
He was booked into the Blount County Correctional Facility on bond totaling $1 million, pending a hearing in Blount County General Sessions Court at 9 a.m. on Aug. 30.
The sheriff's office said deputies responded to Light's home on Tammy Circle in Rockford on Feb. 23, 2011 in reference to a non-responsive infant who was 5 ½ months old.
The infant was pronounced dead at Blount Memorial Hospital and investigators said an autopsy showed the cause of death was determined to be suffocation.
Over the last seven years the sheriff's office said the investigation has continued and several interviews were conducted including ones with Light.
"Recently, while in a Tennessee state prison on unrelated charges, Light sent letters to investigators stating he was responsible for the infant’s death, and how it had occurred while he was on a drug binge," the Blount County Sheriff's Office said in a release.
Investigators said they then worked with the Blount County District Attorney’s Office and had Light transported back to Blount County. After additional questioning, he was charged.