Jamar Pinkney, 37, has been accused of forcing his son, who shares his name, to kneel naked in a vacant lot before shooting the boy with a single bullet in his head on Monday.

Lazette Cherry, the boy’s mother, told the Detroit Free Press that Mr Pinkney had rushed to her home in Highland Park, Michigan, after she told him that their son had confessed to having “inappropriate contact” with his young sister at his father’s home in east Detroit.

She said when her former partner arrived at her house on Monday, he was wielding a gun.

“I called and told his father this isn’t something you sweep under the rug,” Miss Cherry told the newspaper.

Mr Pinkney then allegedly marched his son outside, forced him to strip and kneel down. Miss Cherry told how her son begged, “No, Daddy! No!” before his father shot him.

Mr Pinkney, a postman, later turned himself in to authorities.

He has been charged with first degree murder and faces life in prison if convicted.

His lawyer, Corbett O’Meara, called the incident a “devastating tragedy”.

“My client is in shock and in mourning, but is hopeful that his family will be able to come out of this in as whole a state as possible,” said Mr O’Meara.

You might also be interested reading:

• Most Santa Barbara fire evacuations being lifted
• Iraqi elections avoid violence but complaints loom
• Space Porch Is Open for Business