Teen dad to stand trial as adult in death of 2-month-old son (Chesterfield, Virginia)

Dad BRANDON L. PARKER is charged with 2nd-degree murder in the death of his 2-month-old son. The baby apparently lived with the father and his parents, while the baby's mother lived elsewhere. Despite the fact that Daddy was supposed to start basic training in the Air Force just a few days after the baby's death, we're told that the baby's parents were "raising" the child together. I really think that 2-month-old babies do best when in the care of a loving mother, not being passed back and forth from house to house. But given that the U.S. still has no real maternity leaves, this is the result we have ended up with. Macho guys who just can't do infant care--and babies who pay the price with their lives.

http://www2.timesdispatch.com/news/2010/sep/10/baby10-ar-498029/

Teen will be tried as adult in infant son's death
By MARK BOWES TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Published: September 10, 2010

Chesterfield, Va. --
An 18-year-old Chesterfield County father will stand trial as an adult on a charge of fatally shaking his 2-month-old son after the child started to scream in his infant swing, a judge ruled yesterday.

Brandon L. Parker, who was days away from beginning basic training with the U.S. Air Force, told investigators that Elijah took a deep breath and went limp in his arms after he removed the baby from the swing.

Parker, then 17, said he put his son down, placed his hand on the baby's stomach and "shook him a little bit," Chesterfield Detective Mark Haynes testified yesterday in Chesterfield Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court.

The shaking was severe enough to cause diffuse bleeding about the child's brain, brain tissue damage and retinal hemorrhaging of his eyes, testified Dr. Robin Foster, director of Pediatric Emergency Services and Pediatric Critical Care Transport at VCU Medical Center.

Elijah died four days later at the hospital of blunt force trauma of the head.

After hearing that and other evidence, Judge Bonnie C. Davis found probable cause to certify a second-degree murder charge against the teen to a Chesterfield Circuit Court grand jury. She allowed him to remain free on bond, monitored electronically under home incarceration.

Parker lived with his son at his parents' home in the 4000 block of Clipper Bay Drive. Police responded there about 11:45 p.m June 22 after receiving a call about a child who had stopped breathing.

Officer Michael Agnew testified that Parker was standing at the doorway of the home when he arrived, and he found the infant laying motionless at the top of the stairs. The child had no visible injuries but a white fluid was coming from the baby's nose, Agnew said.

With the help of another officer, Agnew said he attempted to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the baby until paramedics arrived and took him to the hospital.

Parker told the officer he fed Elijah about 10:30 p.m. and then placed the baby in a child swing in the teen's bedroom and began watching television. About an hour later, Parker said his son suddenly started screaming and he took the baby to his stepmother because he didn't know what to do, Agnew testified.

During an interview early the next morning in a hospital waiting room, Parker provided a similar account to Haynes, the detective. But the teen added that Elijah "took a deep breath and fell out" -- went unconscious and limp -- after being picked up from the child swing. "I put my hand on his stomach and shook him a little bit," Haynes said Parker told him.

The infant was flaccid and unresponsive when he was transferred to VCU Medical Center from Southside Regional Hospital, Foster said. After examining the child and conducting several tests, Foster said she concluded that Elijah suffered a traumatic head injury consistent with being shaken.

Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney B.J. McGee said evidence showed Parker was alone with the child when the injuries occurred, although the teen's stepmother was still in the house. Parker's father had left for work earlier that evening and dropped the child's 20-year-old mother, who didn't live with the Parkers, at her home, said Kevin Purnell, Brandon Parker's court-appointed attorney.

"Together they were raising this child," Purnell said.