They poured boiling water on him, beat him within in an inch of his life for going potty in his bed, inflicted numerous black eyes and large bodily bruises. All of this in the years leading up to his death, did they “mean” to kill him? Well, they certainly didn’t mean not to. A very young child’s body can only take so much and overtime the wounds were compounded by the repeated attacks. I’m sure the complete autopsy will reveal bone fractures, burns, bruises and cuts in various stages of healing, head injuries, internal injuries. Any one could figure out a human would die after enduring repeated abuse. This wasn’t an accidentally death. He was beaten to death following years of torture.
I understand you want to believe it was an accident in some heat of the moment argument because it’s very hard to understand how parents could hate a sweet little boy this much but they did. They hated him and he was literally their whipping boy who they blamed for all their own failings. They not only beat him to death...they enjoyed it. It made them feel powerful and they truly convinced themselves he deserved it. They probably still think he did.