Police: Family member admits to drowning boy, 6, with autism in Washington

LYNNWOOD, Wash. -- A 19-year-old man admitted to drowning a 6-year-old Lynnwood boy with autism in the child's apartment and disposing of his body in a dumpster outside, the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office said Tuesday.

The suspect, from Kerrville, Texas, a family member, was booked into the Snohomish County Jail for first-degree murder. He is not being identified because he has not been formally charged with a crime.

The boy, Dayvid Pakko, was reported missing Monday afternoon from his home in the Bristol Square Apartments at 15700 44th Ave. West in Lynnwood. After an extensive search, the boy's body was found in a dumpster outside the apartment complex early Tuesday morning.

"On 10/16/17, between the approximate hours of 1400 and 1500 hours, a six year old male, D.P. was left in the care of 19 year old (name redacted) at Bristol Square Apartments ... (in) Lynnwood," the sheriff's office said.

"(name redacted) admitted, during that time, to filling a bathtub with water with the intention of drowning and killing D.P. (name redacted) admitted to calling D.P. to the bathroom, picking him up and placing him face down in the water, and holding D.P.'s head underneath the water while D.P. struggled for approximately 30 seconds before becoming still.

"(name redacted) said he left D.P. face down in the water for approximately six minutes. He did not provide life saving measures on D.P. (name redacted) changed his clothing, wrapped D.P.'s body in a blanket and placed him in a cardboard box, which he used to dispose D.P.'s body in the nearest garbage dumpster. D.P. was determined to be deceased by paramedics on scene approximately 12 hours after his initial disappearance," the sheriff's office said.

In an interview with News4SA.com in Kerrville, Texas, the suspect's father, Randy Henckel, said his son had been staying with family there for about a week when he was asked to babysit his nephew, Dayvid. When they spoke Monday night, Randy said his son told him he woke up to other relatives arriving home, but the boy was missing.

"My grandson's been murdered," said Randy, the suspect's father. "My autistic son, who would never hurt a fly, has been sequestered since last night by the police. Apparently, they evoked a confession from him. He had no lawyer present. No family present."

He said his son and Dayvid met for the first time during this trip.

"They're both autistic," Randy told the station, "and my daughter told me they both connected very naturally. That's what I was told. I've been talking with them every day since, during the week that he's been there, and there were zero problems."

Copyright 2017 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.