Dad left alone with 4-month-old daughter for first time--and within 12 hours she's dead of blunt force trauma (Houston, Texas)

Mom had to go back to work, so FOR THE VERY FIRST TIME, dad INIUBONG EFFIONG EBONG was enlisted to be the caretaker. Seems Daddy couldn't even get through 12 hours of infant caretaking before he hit their 5-month-old daughter in the abdomen for crying (which he has admitted to the police to doing), causing her to die from the effects of blunt force trauma. Of course, he never bothered to contact a hospital or the mother. The mother came home to find the dead baby laying on Daddy while he was "nodded off" on the couch. Of course, he lied to the mother about what happened.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7316570.html

Father held in daughter's death
Mother called to home and finds the 5-month-old limp, not breathing
By PEGGY O'HARE
Copyright 2010, HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Nov. 29, 2010, 11:04PM

Indya Ebong was happy, smiling and healthy when she awoke shortly before 5 a.m. Friday as her mother changed her diaper. The 5-month-old girl was, as always, joyful — despite the early hour.

"I said, 'Indya, it is too early in the morning for you to be smiling,' " her mother, Laquisha Downs, 26, recalled fondly on Monday. "She was just the sweetest baby — she would just laugh."

Downs went to work before sunrise, leaving the baby in the care of the little girl's father, Iniubong Effiong Ebong, 31, a Lamar University student, at her west Houston apartment. It was the first time the Beaumont man had been left alone to care for his infant daughter. Little more than 12 hours later, little Indya was dead, a victim of severe blunt trauma to the abdomen, an autopsy later revealed. Her death was ruled a homicide.

Houston homicide investigators say Iniubong Ebong admitted to them that he used his hand to strike his infant daughter on the abdomen when she would not stop crying Friday. But Downs said Ebong told her a different story, saying he had accidentally dropped the baby.

No history of abuse
Iniubong Ebong remains in the Harris County Jail with bail set at $200,000, charged with injury to a child causing serious bodily injury. Downs said she and her entire family are in shock.

"Everyone is heartbroken and trying to figure out what actually happened and why," Downs said Monday. "Me and my family, we're all shocked that this could have happened because he's so overprotective."

Downs said she has never seen Ebong mistreat their infant daughter or her other child, a 5-year-old girl, who also was in the apartment in the 2100 block of South Kirkwood when the baby was injured Friday. Child Protective Services has no history of ever investigating either parent, said spokeswoman Estella Olguin.

"I didn't know the importance of it because he never said, 'I accidentally dropped her,' " Downs said Monday. "He never told me that part. He just said she was sick, and he thought she needed to go to the hospital."

Mom tried CPR
Downs said she arrived home a short time later to find Ebong had "nodded off" on the couch while holding their infant daughter in his arms. She said the baby appeared to be sleeping with a pacifier in her mouth. But Downs soon realized the infant was limp and wasn't breathing.

After Downs attempted CPR on the baby, Ebong drove them to West Houston Medical Center.

"He was nervous and crying and saying he was sorry, he was sorry, he should have taken her to the hospital when he texted me," Downs recalled.

The family arrived at the hospital at 5:45 p.m. Friday, and baby Indya was pronounced dead at 6 p.m. Doctors told CPS caseworkers that it appeared she had been dead for several hours, Olguin said.

The baby had some bruising on the upper center of her front torso, and her abdomen seemed distended, but she had no apparent fractures, Olguin said.

Downs said she was at work Friday when Ebong sent a text message to her cell phone telling her the baby had not been eating that day and needed to go to the hospital.

Downs said she was driving to Louisiana with her 5-year-old daughter to make funeral arrangements around 7 p.m. Saturday when Ebong called her and told her he had dropped the baby.

"He called me and he let me know he didn't tell me he dropped her because he thought it was something that he could handle himself, and he was sorry," Downs recalled. "And he kept apologizing. And I was like, 'OK, so why didn't you say anything?' And he said he just thought it was something he could take care of, he didn't think it was really serious. He never admitted to me that he hit her."

"He called me and he let me know he didn't tell me he dropped her because he thought it was something that he could handle himself, and he was sorry," Downs recalled. "And he kept apologizing. And I was like, 'OK, so why didn't you say anything?' And he said he just thought it was something he could take care of, he didn't think it was really serious. He never admitted to me that he hit her."

Downs later learned from media reports that Houston police said Ebong confessed to investigators that he hit the baby. She said she is reserving judgment until she can talk to him herself about what happened.

On dean's list
She said Ebong moved to Beaumont to attend Lamar University, where he is pursuing a degree in electrical engineering. Earlier this year, he earned a spot on the university's President's List for achieving a perfect 4.0 grade point average. He also works as a math tutor for college students, Downs said.

Public records show he previously lived in the Fort Bend County town of Fresno, where his family has lived for at least 12 years and his sister still resides. But his parents are now in Nigeria, Downs said.

Houston homicide investigators working the case could not be reached for comment Monday. CPS caseworkers likely will try to interview the baby's 5-year-old sister at a later date to see if she witnessed anything, Olguin said.