Lee Willie DeJesus, the Homestead father accused of fatally beating his toddler son, committed in suicide in a Miami-Dade jail over the weekend, jail officials said Tuesday.

DeJesus, 24, was charged last August with second-degree murder and aggravated child abuse. According to Miami-Dade police, he claimed he was teaching his son, 2-year-old Willie Brown, how to box when he injured the boy.

DeJesus was being held in the ninth-floor psychiatric ward of the Miami-Dade jail and his body was discovered Saturday night hanging from a bed sheet, according to the jail. DeJesus had not been placed on a suicide watch, a jail official said.

Miami-Dade police is investigating his death.

Dejesus had pleaded not guilty. Prosecutors had been expected to seek an indictment for first-degree murder, which could have made him eligible for the death penalty.

The 2-year-old boy had lived in a tumultuous family marred by domestic disputes, records show. The family had come to the attention of the Department of Children and Families.