In Tampa, Florida, a 25-year-old man was arrested Friday after a 1-month-old infant was killed during “an unspeakable act” of abuse.
A local hospital contacted the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office on Thursday, Dec. 8, after an unresponsive 1-month-old infant arrived with upper-body trauma. Despite doctors’ efforts to save the child, the infant died the following morning.
After returning home from work, the mother rushed her infant to the local Tampa hospital when she realized her child was unresponsive and seriously injured.
According to the mother, she last saw the infant during her lunch break, and there were no signs of injury then. When interviewed by police, she explained the infant was left in the care of her relative, Cortavius Thompson, while she was at work.
When interviewed by detectives, Thompson told them that he heard the newborn crying in the adjacent room when he was in the restroom. He said he noticed the injuries when he picked up the baby, but while waiting for the mother of the baby to return, he “placed the infant in the bathtub in an attempt to wake the baby”.
Based on the infant’s injuries, the medical examiner’s office ruled that the baby’s death could not have been accidental.
Whenever deputies have to investigate these types of cases, it is heartbreaking, said Sheriff Chad Chronister. “To lose a child so tragically is devastating. This baby was innocent and had no chance at the hands of the suspect. Such an unspeakable act should never have occurred.”
He is being held at Falkenburg Road Jail without bond on charges of first-degree murder and child abuse.