Police have charged a 17-year-old Des Moines man in the murder of his 8-month-old child, who died Saturday after arriving in the hospital with several traumatic injuries.
Jayden Straight turned himself into authorities on Sunday and is now facing charges of first-degree murder and child endangerment resulting in death, the Des Moines Register reported. Straight is currently being held at the Polk County Jail in lieu of a $1.6 million bond.
Authorities said the infant suffered internal injuries as well as a traumatic head injury. (KCCI / video screenshot)
On Friday, Des Moines police were sent to Mercy Medical Hospital to investigate reports of an 8-month-old girl with serious injuries. Court documents showed Raija Straight suffered internal injuries, as well as a traumatic head injury, not limited to “multiple skull fractures, a ruptured spleen, multiple broken ribs and massive retinal hemorrhaging.”
The child succumbed to her injuries Saturday evening, local station KCCI reported.
Des Moines PD detectives have since consulted with the Polk County Attorney’s Office, which approved criminal charges in the case. The infant’s mother, who was out running errands when the alleged beating occurred, isn’t being investigated in her death at this time. The young woman told police her daughter appeared “normal and fine” when she left her and Jayden alone together Friday afternoon. That evening, according to a GoFundMe page started on her behalf, the infant’s mother was called from work to the hospital.
“These are probably some of the worst that we have to investigate,” department spokesman Sgt. Paul Parizek told WHO-TV. “A lot of us are parents. You have to put on your professional hat to work through these things, and at the end of it is when you start feeling the weight.”
Straight made his first court appearance Sunday and is being tried as an adult.