A Florida man has been charged with the death of his 6-week-old son after confessing that he “accidentally” bashed his head.
Edrick Lamar Davis, 25, has been charged with first degree murder and aggravated child abuse, WOFL reported.
Arrest records say that police were called to a home in Melbourne for an infant not breathing. The baby was taken to a hospital, where he died. Davis told police he had no idea what happened, that he fed the baby, went to take a shower, then found the infant unresponsive when he returned.
According to WFTV, the baby’s mother said she’d gotten up that morning and fed the child, then left her son alone with Davis for about 15 minutes while she got into the shower.
But an autopsy the next day revealed multiple and severe injuries caused by blunt force trauma, including brain and ocular nerve hemorrhages and fractures to the clavicle, tibia, ribs, and jawbone, WESH reported. The medical examiner said the injuries appeared to have been cause intentionally just before the baby’s death. Additionally, older rib fractures indicated prolonged physical abuse.
Police interviewed Davis again, and this time he told detectives he “accidentally” slammed the baby’s head on a door frame while carrying him and later “forcefully hit the back of (the child’s) head with his knee while trying to prevent him from falling out of his arms.”
The parents were interviewed a third time on June 19 when they came to the police department to drop off the child’s medical records. At that time, Davis admitted forcefully whacking the infant’s head on his knee at least twice because the child’s fussiness and crying made him stressed. He still claimed it was unintentional despite describing in detail how he killed the boy.
The detail was made in an “apology letter” in which he said he lost control and wasn’t in his right mind because of the stress of the baby’s crying.
Davis was arrested and booked into the Brevard County jail. On Friday, he was ordered held without bail until his next court appearance on July 23, WFTV said.
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[Featured image: Edrick Lamar Davis/Brevard County Sheriff’s Office]
