Inset: Jayeshaun Spencer (Dallas County Jail). Background: The apartment complex where Spencer allegedly killed an infant in Mesquite, Texas (Google Maps).
A North Texas man is behind bars after an infant in his care died from intentional blunt force trauma, police in the Lone Star State say.
Jayeshaun Spencer, 24, stands accused of capital murder of a person under 10 years of age, according to Dallas County Jail records.
The underlying incident occurred on May 9 at the Lane at Towne Crossing apartment community in Mesquite — a large suburb located some 14 miles due east of Dallas — and ultimately took the life of 4-month-old Alayah Hogan, the Mesquite Police Department says.
First responders arrived at the residence to find the little girl unresponsive and gasping for air, according to an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by Dallas-based Fox affiliate KDFW. The infant was airlifted to Children”s Medical Center in Dallas and placed on life support but eventually pronounced brain-dead on May 15.
On the day Alayah was hospitalized, Spencer was babysitting while her mother went to a garage sale, according to law enforcement.
In an initial interview, the defendant told investigators he left the baby in her car seat while he went to use the bathroom and had propped up a bottle for her with a blanket, police said. Spencer allegedly said that he returned to find the child gagging and turning purple.
Medical staff quickly came to doubt that story.
Scans suggested patterns of abuse, police said. As it turned out, the infant had apparently suffered a series of skull fractures in various stages of healing, which indicated long-term abuse. The baby girl also had a brain bleed and a recently fractured leg, according to law enforcement.
When authorities finally performed an autopsy, the diagnoses were even worse: Alayah had a large and fatal skull fracture, two broken femurs, and a broken rib in the process of healing.
“Alayah was such a bright and beautiful baby,” Alayah’s mother, Alana Hogan, told the TV station. “She was very easygoing, tiny, and full of so much light. One thing that always stood out most about her was her big beautiful brown eyes. She was always smiling and giggling more than crying. She loved cuddling and falling asleep beside me. There’s so much more that could be said about her, but it’s so hard to put into words right now.”
In the immediate aftermath of the law enforcement response, Spencer was held in jail on a protection order violation.
On the day in question, the defendant was actively violating a family violence protective order issued in March barring him from coming within 300 yards of the girl’s mother or her residence, police said.
During a jailhouse phone call, the defendant allegedly told Alayah’s mother he had an “accident” and fell on top of the infant. In the affidavit, Dallas County Medical Examiner Dr. Duscat explicitly rejected Spencer’s explanation, saying the child’s injuries required a level of force that was inconsistent with any sort of accidental fall.
In a bail request form obtained by KDFW, a detective noted Spencer is the common-law spouse of the victim’s mother. The capital murder charge was filed after investigators determined the defendant was the sole caregiver at the time the baby suffered her fatal injuries.
Spencer is being detained on $1 million bond, jail records show.
Child Protective Services has since removed another child from the home where the defendant was babysitting, police said.
