Hoss Wayne Benahm died on his first birthday in what investigators described as 'horror and pain', suffering 89 separate injuries 

A baby suffered horrific sexual abuse inflicted by his mother and her boyfriend and died 'in horror and pain' on his first birthday, prosecutors said.

Little Hoss Wayne Benham was found to have 89 injuries across his body after being taken to a hospital in Cullman, Alabama.

His mother, Crystal Ballenger, and her boyfriend, Jeffrey Hugh Brown, at first claimed he had died in the bathtub at their trailer after taking the unresponsive baby to hospital, according to police.

But an autopsy performed after his death found Benham had 38 injuries on his head and neck sustained by blunt-force trauma.

He had four injuries on each of his eyes, 19 on his arms and legs, six on his torso and seven on his genitals as well as seven burns to the right foot and four burns to the left foot. 

Police also said the boy's skull was fractured, according to court documents quoted by local media. 

Prosecutors say the injuries indicate Benham suffered both physical and sexual torture at the hands of his mother and Brown. 

Cullman County District Attorney Wilson Blaylock sought the death penalty after releasing the autopsy report, which showed Benham suffered 89 injuries, including 38 injuries to the head and neck.

He said at the time of the couple's indictment: 'It's really unbelievable and just hard to read what happened to this infant child. His last 36 hours were spent in horror and pain.'

Benham died on March 11 2014 – the day he turned one year-old - and his mother and her partner were indicted on capital murder charges in 2015. 

Crystal Ballenger was charged with aggravated child abuse, sexual torture and capital murder after her son Hoss Wayne Benahm was taken unresponsive to a hospital in Cullman, Alabama

Charges detailed in court documents show the pair were charged with aggravated child abuse, sexual torture/abuse and capital murder, according to Cullman Today. 

Their trial was due to start this month but Brown's attorney requested a continuance and the hearing was postponed to an unspecified date by Cullman County Circuit Court, the Cullman Times reports. 

Ballenger, 27, and Brown, 41, also tested positive for methamphetamine and other drugs after Benham's death, police said.

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A woman who said she was the boy's great grandmother wrote in an online tribute: 'He was my first great grand son and I miss him every single day and he is always on my mind. 

'I look to heaven every night and tell him goodnight, because I know he is in heaven and he watches over us all. 

'I Love You and miss you and I miss that beautiful smile that was always on your face. From your great nana.' 

Jeffrey Hugh Brown was charged along with his girlfriend over the death of her son

Investigators stated in court documents the bruising and skull fracture on Benham indicated signs of abuse. 

The statement by Bethany Shaddrix, who was the arresting deputy, stated Ballenger claimed Brown was trying to teach her son how to swim in the bath and how to old his breath by holiding him under the water for 20 to 25 second. 

It read: 'Crystal stated on the night of March 11, Jeff was giving Hoss a bath and she walked into the bathroom and witnessed Jeff holding Hoss under water for 20-25 seconds. 

'Jeff told Crystal he was teaching Hoss how to float and that he could hold his breath. Crystal stated Jeff allegedly tried to perform CPR because she didn't know how to perform CPR.'

Captain Jon Montgomery, Cullman County Sheriff's Office investigator, said the couple originally told law enforcement the child had 'accidentally drowned in a bathtub'. 

But he added that the child had bruising 'bodywide' that was 'indicative of possible abuse Hoss's skull was also fractured', police record state.

Ballenger also told investigators she witnessed Brown giving her son Tabasco sauce as punishment to make him stop crying and she would give the baby cough medicine because he was cutting teeth, according to the documents. 

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