Police have Horace Johnson in custody. He's the Columbia man police suspect abused his child to death. U.S. Marshals arrested Horace Johnson in East St. Louis, Illinois, Thursday evening. Columbia Police say Johnson fled Columbia, after his 2-year-old child, Cortez Johnson, died from suspicious injuries Wednesday. Johnson is under arrest for violating parole from a different, unrelated crime. He had an outstanding probation even before allegedly committing the crimes police say probably killed his son. Before anyone can be charged with Cortez Johnson's death, the autopsy results have to prove it was a homicide.

KOMU 8 News spoke with Captain Nelson at the Columbia Police Department. He explained Johnson was uncooperative and would not confess to abusing his child.

"I had a brief conversation with him, but it wasn't very long and then he didn't want to talk anymore so it wasn't that beneficial, but you know, we tried to talk to him, no, looking for confession, but no," said Captain Nelson.

The grandfather of the child told KOMU 8 News the family is mourning the loss.

"It's a pretty tragic thing, I mean it's devastating because you don't expect nothing like that to happen I mean the family's in mourning right now," explains a grieving Roy Lovelady, Johnson's grandfather.

This arrest comes on the heels of his mother's arrest earlier this week .