A man charged with a child’s murder in Pennsylvania was never suggested as the abuser of a 2-year-old boy at Fort Drum, according to a Watertown attorney.

Timothy W. Kay, 25, Ambridge, Pa., was charged Jan. 31 with homicide in connection with a 2-year-old boy’s death in Ambridge — that of his girlfriend’s son.

His wife, Jessica L. Kay, served jail time last year in Watertown after she pleaded guilty to second-degree assault for burning her 2-year-old son on the chest with a flatiron. She is now serving a sentence of probation in Pennsylvania, also mandated for the assault conviction.

When she pleaded guilty, Mrs. Kay entered an Alford plea to avoid trial but to deny the allegation against her.

Her lawyer, David P. Antonucci, said Mrs. Kay never said to him that her husband was responsible for the boy’s burns. Mr. Kay arrived at their Fort Drum apartment while she was calling 911 on July 8, 2011, Mr. Antonucci said. He said he is confident that state police investigated to eliminate Mr. Kay as a suspect.

Mrs. Kay maintained that her son was burned when the hot iron was pulled off an ironing board by one of her children, the attorney said.

After Mrs. Kay was convicted and sentenced to jail and probation, Mr. Kay and a related adult were granted custody of his wife’s three children, Mr. Antonucci said.

Ambridge police arrested Mr. Kay at Beaver County Children and Youth Services, where he was a participant in a child custody hearing, according to the Beaver County Times. A reporter there was unable to determine whether the custody action involved Mrs. Kay’s three children.

The child death in Ambridge occurred Oct. 29. Mr. Kay told police that 2-year-old Dominic Neumeyer suffered his fatal injuries when he jumped off a dresser, according to the newspaper. Police, however, found dust undisturbed on the dresser, the paper reported.

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