Death-penalty trial begins for Ormond father accused of beating infant son to death
The death-penalty trial of an Ormond Beach man accused of beating his infant son to death began with a prosecutor recalling how the man described smacking the child like he was going to knock his teeth down his throat.
A defense attorney then followed with his opening statement saying how the man told police that he had never meant to hurt the child.
Calib Scott, 26, was indicted on a charge of first-degree murder in the death of his son, Daemon, who was not quite 5 months old when prosecutors said he was fatally beaten by his father.
The case dates back to June 11, 2019 when Scott called 9-1-1 to say that his son was not breathing.
If convicted of first-degree murder, prosecutors will seek the death penalty against Scott.
A 15-member jury began hearing testimony before Circuit Judge Dawn Nichols at the Volusia County Courthouse in DeLand.
Besides the murder charge, Scott was charged with aggravated child abuse and child neglect causing great harm.
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The child's body was bruised, he had what appeared to be an injury to his nose and a cut to his lips and a circular mark inside his ear that appeared to be a burn from a cigarette, according testimony.
A story changes
Assistant State Attorney Andrew Urbanak, who along with Heatha Trigones is prosecuting Scott, told jurors that Scott first lied to police and told them he never hurt the baby. Scott blamed the injuries to the child’s face on the child being too close to a vaporizer, although a doctor will testify they were caused by blunt trauma.
Scott eventually changed his story as police questioned him more about the injuries, Urbanak said.
Urbanak pointed out to the jury that Scott acknowledged that he was the child’s caregiver and that he didn't work. He was alone with the child as the mother went to work.
Scott admitted that he dropped the child on his head.
“He tells the police that after he dropped Daemon he made a mistake; he picked him up by his throat and put him on the bed,” Urbanak told the jury.
Urbanak then recalled how Scott described eventually striking the child.
“But he kept crying, he said, just kept crying and so he smacked him,” Urbanak told jurors. “And (he) describes the smack as one like your mama always threatened you with, ‘I’m going to knock your teeth down into your throat.’ He smacks him. And then he goes to change him. He’s still crying.”
'I think I killed him'
Urbanak said Scott then slammed the child down and then goes to change him and the child goes limp.
Urbanak said Scott then told police he was responsible.
“He tells them ‘I think I killed him.' He says 'I killed my baby, I killed him. It’s my fault. I just couldn’t take it no more. I couldn’t take just being alone, being stuck in that (expletive) house every single day. Doing the same thing over and over. Nobody to talk to, nobody to be there. It’s just me. I just couldn’t take it. And he started screaming and screaming and screaming and I couldn’t take it no more.'”
Assistant Public Defender Brian Smith, who is representing Scott along with Assistant Public Defenders Larry Avallone and Rosemarie Peoples, also recalled Scott’s statements.
“'I killed my baby. I killed him. It’s all my fault. I don’t deserve to be here. Oh God. Oh no. Oh God. I thought I saved him. I thought, got to breathing again and I had thought he was going to be OK. And then he’s dead. Oh God. Oh God. I miss my baby boy. I didn’t mean to hurt him. I didn’t mean to hurt him,'” Smith told jurors.
The investigation in Ormond Beach began after Scott called 9-1-1 early on the morning of June 11, 2019 to his mobile home at 19 N. Yonge St. after he said he noticed his son, Daemon, was having difficulty breathing, a report said.
The child was taken to Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach and was later pronounced dead.
An autopsy found that Daemon had suffered a “subdural hematoma,” according to the charging affidavit. A subdural hematoma is bleeding on the brain often caused by a severe head injury.
The child's mother, Stephanie Holly, 36, who was at work when police were called, was charged with neglect of a child causing great bodily harm, failure to report child abuse/neglect and culpable negligence. She has a hearing set for May 3 before Nichols.
During testimony Monday, Ormond Beach Police described the child's home in the single-wide trailer as filthy, unkempt with unwashed dishes, food on the stove and in the oven and what appeared to be dog feces in the trailer.
Former Ormond Beach Police Officer Kevin Culvert, who is now a police officer in Georgia, testified that he was the first officer on the scene that early morning.
He said he heard Scott call Holly on a cell phone set to speaker mode as paramedics worked on the child and then transported him to a hospital.
Culvert said he heard Holly tell him that he had better not have hurt the baby.
Culvert said Scott denied doing anything to the child.
Culvert testified about Scott: "He kept saying that he didn't do anything. He didn't hurt the baby and the baby just stopped breathing, he was changing the diaper."
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Death-penalty trial starts against Ormond father in infant son's death
