Dad arrested for murdering 16-month-old son (Jacksonville, Florida)

Dad DONTE DAWSON has been arrested and charged with 2nd-degree murder in the death of his 16-month-old son. Dad has admitted that he had been "watching" the boy for less than half an hour when he inflicted multiple trauma injuries that killed the child. Not really a surprise here--Daddy had just been released from prison on drug and firearms possesssion. I'm not sure why anybody thinks convicted felons make good babysitters. They don't.

http://www.firstcoastnews.com/news/local/news-article.aspx?storyid=155535

Jacksonville Father Arrested for Murdering His Toddler Son

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The mother of 16-month-old Donte Dawson Jr., a toddler murdered April 27, said she doesn't believe the child's father is the one responsible. Dawson Jr.'s father, Donte Dawson, was arrested and charged with second degree murder after police say he admitted to inflicting the injuries that caused his son's death.

According to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, the 28-year-old father was watching his 16-month-old son in their home on Princeton Square Boulevard April 27. After less than an hour, Jacksonville Fire and Rescue was called.

Dawson Jr. was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy determined the child died from multiple traumatic injuries that were suspicious in nature.

Dawson Sr. spoke with police Friday, initially providing "multiple false accounts" of the events of Tuesday, according to JSO. He eventually admitted he caused the injuries that killed the boy, and was arrested and charged with second degree murder.

Dawson Sr. had recently been released from prison, where he had served a sentence for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Prior to that, he was convicted on drug charges.

"That's all I had. I was with him everyday since December 16, 2008," said Donte Dawson Jr.'s mother Kendra Davis.

Kendra was only able to spend a little more than a year with her only child.

"I miss him. I miss him so much," she said.

Now she can only hold on to pictures of the 16-month-old. She's not grasping the thought that he died at the hands of his father.

"If I can forgive a stranger for doing this, which I want to believe, I can forgive his dad. I know if he did it, which I don't want to believe and which I'm waiting on the truth to come out, he would never try to kill our baby," said Kendra.

Police say Dawson admitted to causing the injuries that caused his son's death. That's all the proof Nikki McCord said she needs.

"She may love him, but I do not. He murdered my grandson," said McCord, Donte, Jr.'s maternal grandmother. McCord wants the person responsible for the death of her grandson to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

"We can forgive him but that does not excuse the crime that was perpetrated against my grandchild. There's no excuse for doing that to a 16-month-old child," said McCord.

"For me, I'm not even grasping him hurting a child, any of his children," said Kendra.

A grieving mother still won't take what's happened as truth just yet. She said Dawson tells her a different story from jail.

"He said they got the wrong person behind bars and I want to believe that, too," Kendra said.