TACOMA, Wash. -- The man accused of killing a 3-year-old Tacoma boy cried as he pleaded not guilty on Friday in a Tacoma courtroom shortly after the release of court documents that revealed he told police he threw the child, shook him, choked him and struck him in the hours before the boy died.

Noah Thomas, 25, wept during the proceeding in which he pleaded not guilty to a charge of second-degree murder in the death of Michael-Kekoa Ravenell. Bail was set at $1 million.

A relative who screamed at Thomas as he was being taken out of the courtroom had to be restrained by six other family members, KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reporter Kevin McCarty said.

Police said Thomas, the boyfriend of the child's mother, was watching Ravenell while the boy's mother was at work on Wednesday. She arrived home to find the boy injured and drove him to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Thomas told police he was "frustrated because Kekoa would not walk on his own" after the boy fell off a big toy at an apartment complex playground and that he later "threw him on the loveseat" after the boy would not eat lunch, according to an affidavit of probable cause.

Thomas told detectives that the boy got off the loveseat and tried to turn on the television, but that Thomas "snatched him up" and took him to his room. Thomas said he threw the child across the room and onto his bed, which had a metal frame. He said the boy "hit the iron rail and bounced on the floor," according to the document.

Thomas said the boy became unresponsive and began to bleed from the mouth, that he tried to wake him by shaking him and that he wrapped both hands around the child's neck and shook him, saying he "wanted to wake him up." Thomas told police he used bleach to clean up the blood that came from the boy's mouth.

Thomas said he asked a neighbor to tell police that he, the neighbor, had been watching the child because Thomas has a prior conviction and a warrant, and would be arrested.

Court documents obtained by KIRO 7 Eyewitness News indicate that Thomas was charged with first-degree assault in a 2003 incident in which he allegedly struck his 23-month-old son.

Prosecutors said Thomas later pleaded guilty to two counts of third-degree assault of a child as part of a plea bargain in that case. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail on each count, said KIRO 7 Eyewitness News reporter Kevin McCarty.