(Reuters) - A South Dakota jury heard opening statements on Tuesday in the trial of a Sioux Falls man accused of killing the 2-year-old son of Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson in 2013.
Joseph Patterson, 29, faces a mandatory life sentence if convicted on the second-degree murder charge in the death of Tyrese Ruffin, who was the son of his girlfriend and NFL star Peterson.
Lincoln County State's Attorney Tom Wollman told jurors the boy suffered four blows to the head while in Patterson's care and died from brain hemorrhaging, the Argus Leader reported.
"You'll hear how the defendant believed that Tyrese didn't like him, and how he believed Ty was afraid of him," it quoted Wollman as saying.