Dad who abducted 2-year-old son admits that he had been "hitting him harder than he should": boy dies after being taken off life support (League City, Texas)

According to later reports, dad DEREK WELLS refused to return this boy to his mother after visitation, and then disappeared. Not surprisingly, the mother reports a history of domestic violence.

http://www.galvestondailynews.com/free/article_28682d76-fe24-11e3-911e-0017a43b2370.html

2-year-old found in League City garage dies

Posted: Friday, June 27, 2014 12:54 pm | Updated: 9:38 pm, Fri Jun 27, 2014.

By T.J. AULDS

LEAGUE CITY — A 2-year-old boy who earlier this week was found unconscious in a garage where he lived with his father died Friday.

Officer Reagan Pena, a League City Police Department spokeswoman, confirmed that Dominic Wells died early Friday morning.

The boy’s father, Derek Wells, 25, is in the Galveston County Jail facing child injury charges.

Pena confirmed that League City detectives are working with the Galveston County District Attorney’s Office to upgrade the charges in light of the child’s death, but that might not happen until the case is presented to a grand jury.

According to a probable cause affidavit, Wells is quoted as telling police that he would get frustrated with the toddler and had been “hitting him harder than he should.”

Wells called 911 shortly after 3:30 p.m. Tuesday to report his son was unresponsive and “not breathing properly,” according to the affidavit.

First responders found Dominic Wells unconscious in a two-car garage attached to a house in the 2100 block of Redwood Drive and rushed the 2-year-old boy to Clear Lake Regional Hospital.

The boy was taken to Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston, placed on life support and examined by physicians, who on Wednesday told a League City detective it was a “definite case of child abuse,” according to the affidavit.

The child never showed signs of recovery during his stay at the Houston hospital.

Wells and his son lived in that garage as guests of the homeowners, who offered the man a place to stay as he tried to save money to find his own place. The homeowner told The Daily News that despite repeated offers, Wells refused to stay inside the house, saying he didn’t want to be a burden.

Doctors determined that “the child had a brain bleed, a possible skull fracture and bruises all over his body,” according to the affidavit. The boy also appeared to be underweight for his age.

Detectives interviewed Derek Wells at the police station, where the father said the toddler would fall and had hit his head on the living room floor, according to the affidavit. Wells initially denied causing his son’s injuries, according to the affidavit. After he was charged and arrested, Wells then told the officer he was responsible for the injuries to his son, according to the affidavit.