A dad in South Dakota has been charged with murder for beating his eight-week-old son to death after fracturing his skull, breaking his ribs and leaving him with a lacerated liver in a blood-spattered apartment.
The incident took place in an apartment on the 3400 block of North Fourth Avenue in Sioux Falls, which is a city located in the US state of South Dakota.
The Sioux Falls Police Department issued a statement saying “Dylan Castimore was arrested today after causing the death of an 8-week old infant. A warrant was issued for 2nd Degree Murder and 1st Degree Manslaughter.”
The police said that emergency responders found the eight-week old infant, who they named as Daxton Castimore, not breathing when they responded to a call on Saturday 27th November at about 11:45 AM.
Dylan Castimore reportedly called the police that morning saying that his baby had been coughing up blood and was not breathing, according to court documents.
The infant was taken to hospital where he was declared dead and police said that evidence indicated that Daxton may have been physically assaulted.
Police arrested Dylan Castimore, 22, as he was the only person in the apartment that day other than the infant, after a forensic examination of the body revealed that the infant had a fractured skull, broken ribs, and a lacerated liver.
The police said that the coroner determined the cause of death to have been homicide.
An arrest warrant was issued for Dylan Matthew Castimore on Tuesday 30th November, the charges of second-degree murder first-degree manslaughter. The police said that the warrant carried a USD 1 million (GBP 750,000) cash bond.
They said that they arrested the suspect on Tuesday “without incident”.
Lt. Terrance Matia said during a press conference on Tuesday afternoon that Dylan Castimore, who shared custody with the boy’s mother, who has not been named, was arrested at a relative’s home, and that he had been the only person in the home at the time police officers responded to the call on the morning of Saturday 27th November.
Matia said: “The injuries were very extensive and would shock most people.”
Court documents revealed that the police noted security footage as shown that the baby could be heard crying at times and that there were several “loud coughs”. The police also reportedly found red spots and smears in the bathroom and bedroom of the apartment which they said were consistent with blood.
Dylan Castimore faces life in prison if convicted of either the manslaughter charge or the murder charge.
A GoFundMe page has since been set up to raise money to pay for the infant’s funeral (https://www.gofundme.com/f/daxton-castimores-funeral-and-other-expenses).
It had raised USD 1,605 at the time of writing out of a total goal of USD 5,000.
