Yusef Ibn Dewees and Baki Dewees (LA County Sheriff’s office)
The 24-year-old father of a newborn baby in California has been arrested and accused of killing the infant, who was last seen alive and with the father in early May. Yusef Ibn Dewees was taken into custody on Wednesday and charged with one count of murder, one count of assault on a child causing death, and one count of child abuse under circumstances or conditions likely to cause great bodily injury or death in the alleged slaying of young Baki Dewees, authorities announced.
According to a news release from the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, Baki was born on April 14, 2024, and investigators believe that Dewees killed the infant on May 2 or May 3, in Palmdale, California. Palmdale is about 55 miles north of Los Angeles.
Authorities said that while they still have not found the newborn’s remains, there is ample evidence indicating that Baki was killed more than a month ago.
“We have a significant amount of evidence to support that baby Baki was murdered and that he was murdered by his father,” LA County District Attorney George Gascón told Los Angeles ABC affiliate KABC on Wednesday. “It is an ongoing investigation and there are things I am not at liberty to discuss at the moment.”
Gascón also confirmed to the station that Baki’s body had not been located.
Authorities have not disclosed many details in the case nor have they speculated about a possible motive.
The child’s mother, 25-year-old Rosealani Gaoa, was arrested in Utah on April 16, 2024, only two days after Baki was born, and charged with aggravated child abuse, intentional child abuse, and reckless child abuse in connection with abusing one of Baki’s older siblings, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Law enforcement authorities in Utah reportedly obtained video footage from a homeless shelter showing Gaoa mercilessly beating her 5-year-old daughter. The alleged beating reportedly took place one day before Baki was born and is one of several child abuse allegations levied against the mother of four during her pregnancy.
Following Gaoa’s arrest in Utah, authorities took custody of one of the couple’s four children, the Times reported. Dewees then took Baki and the two remaining siblings and traveled back to Palmdale where he allegedly killed the newborn. Less than a week after leaving, Dewees reportedly returned to Utah and was arrested on May 7, 2024.
One week after Dewees was arrested, authorities began combing over the Antelope Valley landfill in search of Baki’s body, Los Angeles CW affiliate KTLA reported. While investigators did not reveal what evidence led them to search the landfill, they reportedly confirmed to the station that it was part of transitioning from a missing child case to a homicide investigation.
A November 2023 report made to the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services that was obtained by the Times reportedly said that Dewees “drinks every day” and “becomes violent when he is drunk.”
There is currently no set date for Dewees to be extradited back to Los Angeles County. Prosecutors said they are seeking his bond to be set at $2 million. If convicted on the charges against him, Dewees is facing a maximum sentence of life in prison.
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