Inset: Jared White (Curry County Detention Center). Background: The 1000 block Maple Street in Clovis, N.M. (Google Maps).
A New Mexico man is behind bars after his 5-month-old baby boy was found dead at home over the weekend, according to law enforcement in the Land of Enchantment.
Jared White, 35, stands accused of one count each of child abuse resulting in death and abandonment of a child resulting in death, according to Curry County jail records.
A late-night crying session allegedly sparked the underlying incident.
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Police were called to a house on Maple Street in Clovis – a medium-sized city located just across the border with Texas – on Sunday afternoon just after 2 p.m. in response to an infant who was not breathing, according to Amarillo-based ABC affiliate KVII.
There, life-saving procedures were attempted and the child was rushed to the Plains Regional Medical Center. He was pronounced dead at 2:42 p.m., according to the Clovis Police Department.
In comments to the TV station, a spokesperson for the police department initially said certain information “raised concerns regarding the nature and timing of the infant”s injuries.”
Law enforcement later clarified that vague response – alleging White provided a narrative that was not consistent with other evidence, according to Albuquerque-based ABC affiliate KOAT.
The baby was lying on the couch when police arrived, according to a criminal complaint obtained by Albuquerque-based NBC affiliate KOB.
The father, for his part, allegedly said he discovered his son in a tipped-over bouncer – after being out at a friend’s house for roughly an hour. The child’s face was already purple at the time of the grim discovery, White allegedly told investigators during an interview.
Police say this did not line up with the child’s time of death.
“The main thing about that is the condition that the body was in when we started our investigation didn’t match what the statements were about him being dead for about an hour or so,” police told KOB.
Rather, police allege, the evidence suggested a much earlier death.
“[The child] was in full rigor mortis at the time he was transported to the hospital,” according to a copy of the complaint obtained by Eastern New Mexico News. “In addition, it was discovered that once transported to the hospital, the rigor mortis began to release. … (T)his process would take between 6 to 8 hours to release. This would indicate that the death of [the child] would have had to have occurred much earlier than the story that was being given.”
Additionally, police said the child had marks suggesting he had been strangled – along with verbal evidence to that effect.
A witness described as the defendant’s friend first stuck to White’s narrative about the child being discovered in the tipped-over bouncer immediately before 911 was called, police say.
“[The friend] said she lifted the blanket and observed Joseph with his face in the mattress and his body to be purple,” according to the complaint. “[The friend] said at this time she yelled for Jared to come to the bedroom stating, ‘I think your baby is dead.'”
Later, that friend allegedly changed her story to say she saw White strangling his son several hours before making the emergency call – but that she was hesitant to intervene at first because “she was afraid Jared would hurt her” and she left the room, according to the complaint.
In a later interview, the father’s friend allegedly told law enforcement about the night before – when the child began to wail around 1 a.m.
“[The friend] observed Jared to have wrapped [the child] into a blanket … she then saw Jared lift [the child] into the air by his neck while still being wrapped in the blanket,” the complaint reads. “[The friend] described Jared to have both hands wrapped around [the child’s] neck and to have been strangling him.”
A second child was found at the house on Maple Street – alive – and removed due to the state of things inside the residence, police said.
Detectives said they found drug paraphernalia throughout the house – along with dog feces. Inside one bedroom was a dirty mattress and a baby bottle containing a cockroach, according to the complaint. Another bedroom housed the second child – said to have diaper rash – on a mattress soaked with urine. In sum, the residence was described by law enforcement as “completely unsanitary and a possible health risk.”
Police also described the defendant as “distressed and out of touch with reality,” adding that he “would appear to be fine and have conversations on the phone, then began to cry” and make outbursts.
White is currently being detained in the Curry County Detention Center without bond.
