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Man Allegedly Beating His Girlfriend's 1-Year-Old Son, Then Refused To Get Help For His Ultimately Fatal Injuries
“It’s just been a nightmare,’’ the baby's mother Natasha McGee said of her son's death, allegedly at the hands of Christopher Eugene Knight. “Waking up today knowing that I can’t see him again, I’m just sad.”
A 1-year-old Alabama boy died after suffering a horrific beating, allegedly at the hands of his mother’s boyfriend, who then refused to call 911 to get the child help despite the mom’s pleas, according to police.
Christopher Eugene Knight, 35, is now facing capital murder charges in the death of the 1-year-old boy, who was found unresponsive with “numerous injuries,” according to a press release from the Birmingham Police Department.
The baby’s mother, 23-year-old Natasha McGee told AL.com that she had been at work on the morning of Saturday, March 7, when she got a call from Knight telling her son Jayden was struggling to breathe.
“I told him to call 911 but he wouldn’t,” she told the news outlet. “He said you need to come home and see about him.”
McGee said she rushed home to find “something was wrong” with her son.
“He was alive, but he wasn’t saying anything,” she said. “He was fighting to breathe. I knew he was still alive, but he wasn’t alert.”
Authorities were called to the scene and the baby, who had been a “high spirited” and “loving” baby according to his mom, was transported to the hospital where doctors tried to perform a surgery to relieve swelling in his brain.
Sgt. Rodarius Mauldin, the public information officer for the Birmingham Police Department, told Oxygen.com that the investigation into the case is ongoing and declined to release specific details about the nature of the injuries or who eventually made the call to 911.
However, McGee told the local news outlet that doctors determined her son had suffered a fractured skull and had a blood clot.
McGee remained by her young son’s side, hoping he would recover.
“I was telling him, ‘Hang in baby boy. Be strong,’” she said. “I was telling him I was sorry.”
However, the injuries would prove to be too traumatic and Jayden was taken off life support and died last week.
Knight was taken into custody at an area motel and initially charged with aggravated child abuse; however, that charge was upgraded after Jayden’s death.
McGee said she had left the young boy in his care before and trusted him.
“I didn’t think he would do something like this because he has children of his own,’’ she told the local paper. “I just want justice for my baby.”
Mauldin told Oxygen.com he didn't know whether any other children at been present at the time of the alleged beating.
The 23-year-old mother is now left heartbroken over her loss.
“It’s just been a nightmare,’’ she said. “Waking up today knowing that I can’t see him again, I’m just sad.”
Knight is being held at the Jefferson County Jail, according to police.
