A 22-year-old man from Texas might spend his entire life in prison after being charged with the murder of a 4-year-old boy he abducted while the child slept beside his twin brother.

On Monday, Darriynn Brown confessed to killing the boy just moments before jury selection was to begin for his trial concerning the murder of young Cash Ganon in 2021, according to court documents.

Originally charged with capital murder, Brown managed to negotiate with prosecutors and agreed to a guilty plea for the reduced charge of first-degree murder. Following his plea in court, Dallas County District Judge Stephanie N. Huff sentenced him to life imprisonment, though Brown might be eligible for parole at some point.

As previously noted by Law&Crime, Cash’s body was discovered on May 15, 2021, in the 7500 block of Saddleridge Drive, which is roughly half a mile away from his home in Dallas. Law enforcement officials claim to have surveillance video of Brown taking Cash from his crib, where he slept next to his brother.

Brown reportedly carried the boy for approximately eight blocks before brutally stabbing him multiple times, then left his body in the street.

The jogger who came across the boy’s body said she initially thought it was the body of an animal before realizing it was a child.

“I remember seeing his little body and noticing ants crawling on the soles of his feet,” she reportedly shared with CBS affiliate KTVT, expressing that the memory is something she “can’t unsee.”

“The closer I get to it I can tell it’s a human because I see a hand and I see legs. Very traumatizing. I have three kids. To see a child covered in blood in the middle of the street, it’s truly traumatizing,” she said.

An additional video obtained by authorities reportedly showed Brown returning to boys’ room after Cash was already dead, hovering over the crib, and presumably contemplating stealing Cash’s twin brother, but ultimately deciding against it.

Brown was arrested hours after the boy’s body was found. In addition to the incriminating surveillance footage, authorities said that three items recovered from Brown’s room all tested positive for the victim’s blood. Those items were a pair of black sunglasses, a black Adidas hoodie like the one worn by the kidnapper in the surveillance footage, and a pair of black tennis shoes.

Brown was also accused of attempting to “take” another child several months earlier, in February 2021, but the alleged victim declined to press charges.

According to the affidavit obtained by KTVT, Brown made his way into a man’s home and began to rifle through various rooms and closets. The man claimed that he picked up a kitchen knife and brandished it in Brown’s direction while demanding that the suspect leave the premises. The defendant allegedly left after that but only briefly. According to the affidavit, Brown returned and began kicking at an interior door between the house and the garage on the property — prompting the homeowner to open the door to see what was going on. After that, the man claimed Brown punched him in the forehead.

The homeowner, a grandfather, claimed that Brown then walked into the living room where his 2-year-old granddaughter was sleeping. Brown allegedly grabbed the girl and tried to take her away towards the laundry room. The man said he at first pleaded with Brown to let the girl go but was ignored. The girl was then ripped from Brown’s grasp by the grandfather, the affidavit claimed.

In a statement to police, the man said his granddaughter was “startled and began crying when she awoke to Brown holding her.”

The grandfather initially declined to press charges after Brown apologized, police said.

“[H]e was sorry for breaking into his house and trying to take his grandchild,”a police report said, describing Brown’s apology that reportedly occurred two weeks after the alleged attempted kidnapping.

After Cash Gernon was killed, however, the grandfather of the 2-year-old girl decided to press charges.