North Linden mother, boyfriend charged with murder in death of 8-month-old boy
A North Linden mother and her boyfriend have been charged with murder in the death of an 8-month-old boy in what is the second reported death of a child this week due to alleged child abuse, according to court documents.
Columbus police charged Savanna Dawn Dawson, 23, and Kyrios March Jr., 24, on Wednesday in the death of Marquel Smith, who died as the result of blunt force trauma, court records show.
Neither suspect has been arrested and it is possible they have fled the Columbus area, police said Thursday.
Police said Dawson is Smith's mother and March is her boyfriend but not the boy's father.
Around 6:50 p.m. Monday, police were called to the couple's home on the 2400 block of Hiawatha Street on a report of an 8-month-old baby who wasn't breathing. Paramedics took the infant to Nationwide Children's Hospital where he died.
Homicide detectives were notified after doctors discovered and an autopsy confirmed the boy had multiple broken bones and healing fractures.
Doctors told detectives Marquel had a brain bleed and bruises on his skull. Additionally, police said his broken bones were consistent with abuse and not accidental.
Police initially detained and questioned March and Dawson, who both said they did not know how the child got the injuries. They suggested another child living in the home may have caused the injuries.
Anyone with information on March and Dawson's location is asked to call police at 614-645-4545. Dawson has ties to Michigan as well as Ohio.
Case is second death of a child this week from alleged child abuse
Columbus police on Monday charged Saado Adam, 44, of the city's Minerva Park neighborhood, with felony child endangerment after medical staff at Nationwide Children's Hospital told detectives that her 5-year-old son died from “prolonged starvation or massively inadequate feeding,” with either situation representing life-threatening medical neglect.
The boy, whom police did not identify by name, was pronounced deceased around 1 p.m. Monday at Nationwide Children's.
In court documents, detectives allege that Adam told them in an interview that the child was sick for several weeks and had not been walking since November. Detectives allege that Adam told them she had not sought medical treatment for her child because voices in her head told her not to take him to the doctor.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Two North Linden residents charged with murder in death of infant boy
