Patterson Faces New Charges In Boy's Death

sioux falls, sd

A Lincoln County Grand Jury has indicted 27-year-old Joseph Patterson on new charges.

Lincoln County State's Attorney Tom Wollman says Patterson has been indicted on one count of Second Degree Murder, two alternate counts of First Degree Manslaughter, Aggravated Battery of an Infant and felony child abuse in the death of two-year-old Tyrese Ruffin.  

Police say Patterson was alone with the boy at a southwest Sioux Falls apartment when the assault happened.  Authorities found Ruffin was unresponsive when he was taken to the hospital.  Doctors determined his head injuries were the result of an assault, not an accident.

The Second Degree Murder charge carries a mandatory life sentence. 

Patterson will be arraigned on the new charges in the near future.

Authorities have not identified the boy's mother but Ruffin is the son of Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson.

Patterson has been in trouble with law enforcement before.  Last year, he pleaded guilty to domestic assault and violating a no-contact order.  In that protection order, his ex-girlfriend, who is not Ruffin's mother, wrote that Patterson had threatened to kill her multiple times and had spanked her three-year-old son so hard that it caused welts.