Teenagers in Ohio charged with murdering 5-month-old son allegedly created ‘substantial risk’ to infant: Cops

Two 19-year-old parents in Ohio face murder charges in connection to the death of their newborn son five days after he was rushed to a hospital.

On Dec. 22 around 8:30 a.m., Cincinnati police officers found a 5-month-old baby boy, Casey Sams, unresponsive at an apartment complex.

Later that day, authorities took the infant’s parents, Shakayla Sams and Donte Farrier, into custody, WXIX reported.

The infant died from his injuries at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center on Dec. 27.

Det. Sandy Sieving said neighbors of the accused were “putting pieces of the puzzle together for us that we would have never known and that would be for any case regardless of the victim because we’re not [there], we can’t see what’s going on.”

Sieving said the child’s young age played a factor in so many people coming forward to provide the information that has been “very very helpful.”

“It just hits a little different when it’s a baby and we’ve had a lot of support from the community,” she said, noting, “We don’t always get that. It would be nice to have that on the other cases we investigate, all the other homicides we investigate, but we have gotten a lot of help on this case.”

According to one neighbor of the couple, the victim was “loving” and a “great baby.”

“He had these big, gushing, beautiful eyeballs,” the neighbor told WXIX. “His smile just made you smile and light up. Casey is going to be truly missed. He deserved to live a life like everybody else. Now he’s gone.”

According to arrest records obtained by the station, Sams and Farrier allegedly “created substantial risk to the health and safety” of the baby over the course of several months.

Police booked the couple into the Hamilton County Justice Center on murder charges and they were being held on $200,000 bond each.