Dad charged with killing 3-month-old son--the very first time he cared for him alone (Towamencin, Pennsylvania)

Read this carefully. It sure doesn't sound like the mother and the father lived together, as she dropped off the baby about 3 AM. Did she have to work? What? We don't know. Was this a visitation situation, formal or informal? We don't know. We're not told.

We do know that Daddy JAMEEL E. EAST apparently lived with his grandmother--or at least she was staying at the home--and that when she and other family member left the house, he was left alone with the baby for the very first time. Like a lot of young men, he was "overwhelmed." Why we think virile young men are suited to infant care, I don't know. A few are. Many are not. But anyway, Daddy couldn't handle the stress of a sick baby. By 8:00 in the morning, the baby was dead from blunt cerebral trauma (two head fractures).

http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/the_intelligencer_news/father-accused-of-killing-infant-son/article_fe005671-af71-5074-ac31-532c3b16750f.html

Father accused of killing infant son
Posted: Thursday, June 30, 2011 6:00 am | Updated: 11:35 am, Thu Jun 30, 2011.

By Margaret Gibbons
Staff writer Calkins Media, Inc.

A Towamencin man is behind bars after authorities Wednesday accused him of murdering his 3-month-old son.

Jameel E. East, 22, of the 400 block of Lantern Lane, was held without bail following his arrest and arraignment for third-degree murder and lying to police about the circumstances involving the death of his son, Enzo East.

East’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 11.

The head injuries that took the infant’s life and which included two skull fractures occurred while East was alone caring for the child.

“This baby’s life was taken from him before he even had a chance to live it,” said Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman in announcing East’s arrest.

“Children at that age are completely helpless, completely vulnerable and completely dependent on adults in their lives to care for them,” said Ferman. “Now that his life has been taken from him, it is really up to us in law enforcement and the DA’s office to be the voice for child, to stand up for him and to make sure that the person who so violently took his life is held accountable.”

East could be sentenced to a maximum of 20 to 40 years in prison if convicted of third-degree murder.

The incident that resulted in the infant’s death occurred last Friday.

The infant’s 18-year-old mother, Sarah Luby, dropped the child off with East at about 3 a.m. that day.

The mother earlier had taken the child to the Abington Memorial Hospital emergency room to be treated for vomiting and he was released from the hospital at about 2:15 a.m.

East cared for his son, who witnesses described as “fussy,” throughout the day.

East’s grandmother and other family members left the home at about 5:30 p.m., leaving East solely responsible for the infant.

Sometime after their departure, the child vomited on East’s shorts and he took him into the bathroom to clean him up.

Ferman said authorities do not know whether they can pinpoint the specific moment that East became, in his own words, “overwhelmed” by the situation, whether it was because this was East’s first time caring for the child alone, because the child was ill or because the child had vomited on him.

But what authorities say they do know as a result of their investigation is that East “shook the child very violently, striking him against a hard surface in the bathroom, ultimately causing the injuries that were fatal to the baby,” according to Ferman.

Accoriding to authorities, East described Enzo as appearing to be in “shock” after he received the blow to his head. The father went on to bathe the child anyway and noticed that he was not breathing, according to a statement.

East contacted a friend, asking him to drive him and his son to the Abington Health Lansdale Hospital. The child, who was “unresponsive,” was immediately transported by MedEvac helicopter to The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The child was pronounced dead at 8:12 p.m. on June 25.

An autopsy was conducted the following day. The cause of death was blunt cerebral trauma and the manner of death was listed as homicide.

Questioned by authorities, East initially told them that, while he was carrying the child down the staircase, he began to fall and the child’s head slammed against the wall. He later told authorities he felt “overwhelmed” when he took the child into the bathroom to bathe him and struck the child’s head against the hard counter surface between the two sinks.