BENSALEM TOWNSHIP, PA — An Allentown man has been charged with third-degree murder following the death of his 11-year-old son from abuse he sustained while a three-month-old infant in his dad’s care in 2012.
Kyle Hinkle, 38, was taken into custody on Monday by Bensalem Township Police in Allentown. Hinkle was arraigned before District Justice Gallagher and remanded to the Bucks County Correctional Facility in lieu of 10 percent of $2,000,000 bail.
The Bensalem Township Police Special Victims unit began an investigation on Oct. 12, 2012, after medical staff at Aria Torresdale Hospital (now Jefferson Torresdale Hospital) informed Bucks County Youth and Children’s Services that Hinkle’s son, then a three-month-old infant boy, was diagnosed with bleeding in the brain and retinal hemorrhages.
Police also learned from the hospital that the injuries were highly suspicious of inflicted abuse. In addition, a CAT scan revealed new and old injuries in various stages of healing, police said.
The boy, born in July 2012 and living at a home on Virginia Avenue, Bensalem, was transferred to St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children for specialized evaluation and treatment. Township investigators later learned that the injuries inflicted were caused by significant force consistent with abusive head trauma.
Police said Hinkle admitted he shook the infant multiple times without supporting the infant’s head on the morning of Oct. 12, 2012, telling police he was unable to stop the child from crying.
Hinkle was charged with aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of children, and simple assault. He pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to two years in county prison with an additional three years of supervised parole/probation.
On August 14, 2024, Bensalem Police said they were notified by the Pennsylvania State Police that the boy from the 2012 investigation had died in Oliver, Pennsylvania, at age 11. An autopsy in Westmoreland County determined the cause of death was complications of blunt force trauma to the head and neck resulting from the 2012 abuse.
Based on an autopsy and original investigation, the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office approved additional charges and on Nov. 24, District Justice Gallagher issued a warrant charging Hinkle with third-degree murder.