Dad charged with homicide in death of 4-week-old daughter (Cumberland County, Pennsylvania)

Dad JUSTIN LAMONT THOMPSON has been charged with murder in the death of his 4-week-old daughter. Notice that the 6-year-old sister even told a hospital security guard that Daddy "was beating on my sister." But notice that there is ZERO mention of a mother--even though there had to have been a mother 4 weeks before when this baby was born. Why are mothers continually erased from these stories? Why was this baby in Daddy's "care"? Did Mom have to work to support his lazy @$$? What?

INVISIBLE MOTHER ALERT.

http://www.cumberlink.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/article_423a42ec-e5e6-11e0-a556-001cc4c002e0.html

Father charged with homicide in South Middleton infant's death
By Matthew McLaughlin, Sentinel Reporter, Sept. 23, 2011
The Sentinel - cumberlink.com
Posted: Friday, September 23, 2011 11:49 am


Three to five seconds is the amount of time a South Middleton Township man told investigators he shook his infant daughter after she woke up crying.

According to Cumberland County District Attorney David Freed, that may be all it took to kill his 4-week-old baby girl on Sept. 1.

"Three to five seconds is his verbatim statement," Freed said. "What the medical evidence will say about that, may or may not be something different.

"Based on my experience in cases of this nature, these babies are so small it doesn't take much."

Justin Lamont Thompson, 33, of South Middleton Township was arrested and charged with criminal homicide, aggravated assault, simple assault, endangering the welfare of a child and recklessly endangering another person Thursday.

The charges were announced at a Friday morning press conference held by Freed.

Thompson is being held in Cumberland County Prison without bail and is "tentatively" scheduled for a preliminary hearing Oct. 28, according to Freed.

Freed estimated the maximum sentence for all charges, if Thompson is convicted, would be around 40 years in prison.

What happened
Thompson called 911 at 7:21 a.m. Sept. 1 because his 4-week-old daughter, Ahzyre Thompson, was not breathing, Freed said. The infant was taken to Carlisle Regional Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead.

A police investigation into Ahzyre's death began almost immediately.

"The coroner was called to the scene, pursuant to our procedures, and, based on what he saw, he then made a call to state police," Freed said.

Cumberland County Coroner Todd Eckenrode reported seeing retinal hemorrhages in the infant's eyes, consistent with being shaken.

Additionally, while in a hospital waiting area, Ahzyre's 6-year-old sister told a hospital security guard "someone should arrest my daddy, he was beating on my sister," Freed said.

An autopsy was performed the next day, but investigators only recently received the results.

"In keeping with our experience of autopsies on infants and young children ... results often take a few weeks to come in," Freed said. "That's based on the physiology and the age of the child."

The autopsy confirmed retinal hemorrhages, as well as hemorrhages in the brain and spinal chord, consistent with a shaking injury.

"Additionally, the autopsy did rule out other causes of death," Freed added.

Following the receipt of the autopsy results, investigators arranged for an interview with Thompson, which was held Thursday. During the course of the interview the man admitted to shaking the infant, Freed said.

Specifics
Thompson told investigators that Ahzyre woke up and was crying at 3 a.m. Sept. 1, according to the affidavit of probable cause.

The man said he picked the infant up and shook her for three to five seconds. Thompson then said he changed Ahzyre's diaper, fed her from a bottle and laid her back down, according to the affidavit.

Both Freed and Commander Steven Junkin from State police at Carlisle noted that the investigation will continue past the filing of these charges.

"The filing of charges does not end the case for us," Junkin said.

Freed said that he is confident in the investigators assigned to this case.

"My fondest hope would be, in a case like this, that the quantum of evidence is such that the child didn't have to testify," Freed added, referring to Ahzyre's sister.

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Posted earlier on Cumberlink:

The father of a 4-week-old infant has been charged with the baby girl's death, according to District Attorney David Freed.

Justin Lamont Thompson, 33, of South Middleton Township, was charged with criminal homicide, aggravated assault, simple assault, endangering the welfare of a child and recklessly endangering another person.

The charges were announced today during a press conference on the death of Ahzyre Thompson, who was transported to Carlisle Regional Medical Center on Sept. 1, but was pronounced dead when she arrived at the hospital. Police had been investigating the death.

For more on this story, check back to the print and online edition of The Sentinel on Saturday.


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Posted at 9:18 a.m. on Cumberlink:

The District Attorney's Office will hold a press conference at 11 a.m. today at the courthouse to discuss the death of a 4-week old girl from South Middleton Township on Sept. 1.

Police have been investigating the death of Ahzyre Thompson, whose death is being treated as suspicious. An autopsy from the Cumberland County Coroner was unable to determine the cause and manner of death.

The infant was taken to Carlisle Regional Medical Center via ambulance shortly before 7:30 a.m. Sept. 1, and EMS crews performed CPR on the girl, but once she arrived at the hospital, it was determined that she was deceased.