Background: Bexar County Sheriff’s Office & Detention Center (bcsocareers.com) Inset: Samantha Elizabeth Baker (Bexar County Sheriff’s Office)
A Texas woman is set to spend the next 30 years behind bars after admitting to hitting her infant child because he was crying, leading to his death.
On Tuesday, Texas District Court Judge Christine Del Prado sentenced Samantha Elizabeth Baker, of San Antonio, to 30 years in prison for causing serious bodily injury to her newborn baby, the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office announced in a news release. The one-month-old boy later died from his injuries.
Emergency personnel received a call in June 2023 about the “sudden death” of Baker’s baby. She initially said she found her child in an unresponsive state, but later admitted to hitting him “out of frustration while he was crying,” the news release said.
A medical examiner found that the baby sustained a fractured skull due to blunt force trauma.
“Today’s sentencing is a testament to the strength of our community’s commitment to protecting children and ensuring that those who harm them are held accountable,” Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales said.
When police spoke with Baker, who was 21 at the time, following the emergency call in 2023, she told them she hit the baby on his head “hard” roughly three times with an open palm, according to an arrest affidavit obtained by KSAT. She had allegedly “bec[o]me frustrated when the victim began to cry and took her frustration out on the victim.”
She initially said she wrapped her baby in a blanket, per the outlet, and placed him faceup in his bassinet — and then woke up to find him unresponsive.
It was reportedly the boy’s father who called 911, pleading for help after Baker called him at work with the news.
