BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) – A mother and father of 6-week-old twins were arrested on Tuesday after emergency services found one baby dead in his bassinet on April 14. During the investigation, medical workers determined the other twin had skull injuries.
Both parents were charged with first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree cruelty to juveniles.
According to official arrest documents, deputies with the East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office responded to a call about an unresponsive baby in the 11000 block of Southfork Avenue on Friday, April 14. Emergency medical services pronounced the baby dead at the scene.
The child’s father, Darryl Richardson, 24, reportedly told deputies that he placed the baby in the bassinet at 7:45 p.m., but he continued to cry, so Richardson placed him on his stomach where he fell asleep. The baby’s mother, Brandee Williams, 26, was not in the home at the time he placed the baby in the bassinet, investigators said.
Arrest documents said Williams reportedly returned home at 8:30 p.m., and the baby was still asleep. When she tried to wake the baby up at 11 p.m. for feeding, she found him unresponsive and tried to administer CPR but was unsuccessful. She called 911.
On Monday, April 17, the East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner performed an autopsy and found inflicted trauma that had caused hemorrhaging to his skull, scalp and eyes, documents said. The coroner’s office reported the injuries were consistent with “shaken baby syndrome.”
During the investigation, the Louisiana Department of Child and Family Services was notified of the incident because other siblings were in the house at the time of the baby’s death. The children were taken to the hospital, and medical staff found a traumatic injury to the female twin’s skull. She reportedly had a fracture to her left femoral bone.
Deputies determined that Williams and Richardson were the twins’ only caretakers since birth and arrested them.
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