Alabama mom, boyfriend arrested after 2-year-old found dead with fractured skull and brain bleed
11/18/2021 5:04 pm PST
OPELIKA, Ala. (TCD) -- A 28-year-old mother and her boyfriend were arrested Monday in connection to her 2-year-old daughter’s death.
According to the Montgomery Real-Time News, the child, Ivy Baker, was found dead in the bedroom of an apartment on Nov. 12 shortly after 7 a.m. The Opelika Police Department said Ivy’s body was transported to the Alabama Department of Forensic Science for an autopsy.
The Montgomery Real-Time News reports Ivy suffered a fractured skull, a brain bleed, broken collarbones, and a broken left rib. The Lee County Coroner determined she died from blunt-force trauma and the manner of death was ruled a homicide.
Ivy’s mother, Chasity Umeko Baker, reportedly told authorities her daughter had been sick. The Montgomery Real-Time News reports that Baker and her live-in boyfriend of about a year, Jamario Emanuel Mitchell, were treating Ivy’s sickness with a nasal aspirator and Vicks VapoRub.
The Montgomery Real-Time News reports that Mitchell claimed he arrived home from work around 6 p.m. on Nov. 11. He allegedly left the apartment for a short time before coming home again for the rest of the night. He reportedly said Ivy put herself to bed around 9:30 p.m. after watching TV. During the night, the Montgomery Real-Time News reports that Mitchell said he applied Vicks on Ivy’s chest. He said he left for work at 6:30 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 12, according to the Montgomery Real-Time News.
On Nov. 11, Baker reportedly claimed to have been with Ivy the whole day, and after Mitchell came home, she said Ivy seemed fine. The Montgomery Real-Time News says Baker left to have dinner at Piggly Wiggly around 8 p.m. and came home at 9 p.m. Upon her arrival, Mitchell reportedly told Baker that Ivy was in bed.
Baker noticed Ivy having trouble breathing the night of Nov. 11, and according to the Montgomery Real-Time News, she told investigators she left to buy Vicks at Walmart around 10 p.m. The next morning, on Friday, Nov. 12, just before 7 a.m., Baker reportedly found her daughter unresponsive. She called Mitchell and someone else before dialing 911. Baker and Mitchell gave statements to the police and said they didn’t know how or why Ivy was injured.
According to the Montgomery Real-Time News, an investigator wrote in a deposition, "None of the injuries had started to heal which meant the blunt force trauma had recently occurred," adding that Ivy’s injuries were too severe to result from an accident.
The Montgomery Real-Time News reports that Baker and Mitchell were charged and arrested Nov. 15. They remain in custody at Lee County Jail on $450,000 bond.
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