HOUSTON – A man is accused of killing his infant son he was caring for while the child’s mother was in jail, according to court documents.
Kenneth Wayne Wesley, 39, has been charged with felony injury to a child and evading arrest. The injury charge could be upgraded to murder.
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According to investigators, Wesley shares a child with a woman who has been in jail since March 4. While the baby’s mother was behind bars, Wesley was caring for their child alone.
Wesley said, on March 31, he fell asleep with the baby on his chest and woke up after hearing the baby crying, according to court documents.
Wesley said he then noticed the infant had fallen onto the wood floor, landing on his back. He said he picked his son up and made him an 8-ounce bottle to try and stop him from crying. He then placed the baby on the bed and used a blanket to prop up the bottle to feed him while he went to use the bathroom. He said the baby drank the entire bottle and so he went to make him another one, with cereal added, investigators said.
The father claims, when he stepped outside of the room, he heard his son give a faint cry. He said he went back in and found the baby unresponsive.
Wesley allegedly told investigators he picked the baby up, saw that his body was limp, then began to shake him in order to try and get a response. After that, the father said he began to press the baby on his chest and hit him on the back to try to get him to wake up.
Wesley said when that didn’t work, he drove the baby to his mother’s house for help.
From there, 911 was called and the baby was transported to Texas Children’s Hospital in critical condition. The boy died a few days later.
The father said his son’s death was an accident. Doctors, however, found evidence which appeared to dispute that story.
According to documents, doctors found healing rib fractures, non-reactive pupils, a skull fracture and retinal hemorrhages. The baby was also found to have suffered bilateral subdural hemorrhages.
A TCH ophthalmologist documented that the findings are non-accidental and were caused by intentional abusive head trauma with severe brain injury.
When police went to arrest Wesley, he took off running. Police gave chase for about half a mile, before catching the father and taking him into custody.
According to Texas Department of Public Safety Records, Wesley has a lengthy criminal history dating at least back to 2000 with prior arrests including, possession of marijuana, burglary of habitation, criminal trespass, failure to identify and theft.
In October 2011, he was convicted of aggravated sexual assault of a child. He was sentenced to serve 12 years in state jail.