The West Baltimore father who confessed to throwing his 3-year-old son off the Key Bridge told police that demons made him do it.

Stephen Todd Nelson, 37, of the 2900 block of Walbrook Ave. was charged last week with first-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death, according to court documents.

Nelson, who police say ingested household cleaners in a suicide attempt after throwing his son into the Patapsco River on Feb. 3, was listed in good condition last night at the University of Maryland Medical Center.

He was denied bail, but a bail review hearing is scheduled for today.

The body of his son, Turner Jordan Nelson, has not been found.

In a videotaped interview with police from his hospital bed Feb. 13, however, Nelson admitted throwing his son off the bridge. He told police that demons made him do it and then began crying, according to court documents filed late last week that provide new details of the investigation that led to his being charged.

The child's mother, Natisha Johnson, said yesterday that Nelson never complained to her about demons, and that she saw no evidence of mental problems when they were together.

As for Nelson's claims, Johnson said succinctly, "I don't have a reaction to it."

On Feb. 3, Nelson argued with Johnson about returning his son after a visit. The two had been having custody and visitation issues for the past two years, court records show.

They had agreed Nelson would drop off his son after the Super Bowl. But later that night, just after 9:30 p.m., he called Johnson from a pay phone and told her that he did not want her to raise his son with another man and that he was going to kill the child, court documents said. Johnson immediately called 911.

Nelson's phone call originated from a phone at a Citgo station at 6301 Efficiency Way, less than a mile from the bridge, according to court documents.

Video surveillance from the gas station shows Nelson driving toward the bridge, minutes before witnesses reported seeing a man standing outside his car, flailing his arms and yelling, according to the documents.

About an hour after he called from the Citgo, Nelson called Johnson from his home and told her to get dressed, and that he had just killed their son, according to the documents.

Johnson called 911 again, as did Nelson's mother, who told police that he had come home hysterical, saying he had thrown his son off the bridge. When police arrived, Nelson was locked in a first-floor bathroom, semiconscious and foaming at the mouth after ingesting a bathroom cleaning chemical, the documents said. He was taken to University of Maryland Medical Center.

A phone call placed yesterday afternoon to the home of Nelson's mother was not returned.

When police showed Nelson a picture of the bridge and asked him where he was standing when he threw his son into the water, Nelson pointed to the midpoint of the bridge, according to documents.

The Maryland State Police crime lab reported that two open bottles of Smirnoff vodka were found on the front passenger seat of Nelson's Mitsubishi Galant. An empty child safety seat was in the back seat, according to the documents.

Baltimore City has jurisdiction over the case because witnesses reported seeing Nelson's parked car near mile marker 482 on the bridge, which is within city limits.

allison.connolly@baltsun.com brent.jones@baltsun.com