A Key West woman tried to kill her boyfriend’s 7-year-old son, police say

A 36-year-old Key West woman was caught on video trying to smother her boyfriend’s 7-year-old son with a pillow and blanket, Key West police said Monday.

Amber Desirae Pratt was arrested Sunday at a home on Catherine Street and charged with attempted first-degree murder and felony child abuse with no great bodily harm.

On Monday afternoon, Pratt, who is listed as a vet tech, was locked up in the county jail on Stock Island. No specific bond information was listed on the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office website. She is due in court at 8:45 a.m. Aug. 26.

Key West police officers met with the child’s father on Aug. 7. He told them that over the past several months he had noticed “behavioral changes with the child,” according to a news release from police spokeswoman Alyson Crean.

The boy was also waking up in the morning with swollen and irritated eyes, “with no explanation as to why,” Crean said.

Pratt is the father’s girlfriend and not the child’s mother, Crean said.

Suspicious, the father began looking at videos taken inside the home. He found several disturbing videos.

One video shows Pratt covering the child’s head and body with a pillow and blanket while “forcefully applying her body weight” on top of the boy, Crean said.

“The victim can be seen squirming in the video and later told detectives that he could not breathe at the time and was struggling to get out,” Crean said.

Videos taken on other days in the home show Pratt entering the boy’s bedroom and “covertly approach the victim while he is asleep in bed,” Crean said. Pratt is then seen sprinkling an unidentified substance on the boy’s head and face, causing an immediate reaction to the child.

“This type of incident occurred on more than on occasion,” Crean said.

The boy’s father gave the videos to police and Pratt was arrested and jailed.

It was not immediately clear whether Pratt has legal representation.

This developing story will be updated.