Kameron Gammage: Texas man with ‘extreme anger issues’ sentenced to life for beating infant son to death
ECTOR COUNTY, TEXAS: A 23-year-old father from Texas was given a life sentence after admitting to beating his infant son to death months earlier. According to court documents analyzed by Law&Crime, District Court Judge Denn Whalen sentenced Kameron Gammage to life in prison plus 20 years for the murder of 7-month-old Logan Gammage on September 29.
Gammage pleaded guilty to one count of both the murder of a person under the age of 10 and the harm of a child when he appeared in the state's 70th District Court. He must serve the terms consecutively as a condition of the plea deal, according to Midland ABC station KMID. This requirement was worked out between Gammage's public defender's office lawyer and the prosecution team.
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Gammage and Logan's mother Leyla Grace Pierson, 18, were first detained in July, as previously reported by Law&Crime. Pierson was charged with one count of criminal negligence injury to a child, a state jail felony that carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison. Records reveal that grand juries in Ector County issued a genuine bill of indictment against both parents earlier this month.
The Odessa Police Department's probable cause arrest document states that on July 12, 2022, at 12.52 pm, police responded to a 911 emergency call about a baby who was not breathing at the Brady Station Apartment Complex, located in the 4200 block of E 52nd Street. First responders reported finding the couple's son inside the flat lifeless when they arrived. The infant was declared dead at the scene, according to the officials, and looked to have apparent injuries. “The deceased infant had heavy bruising swelling to the left side of his face and head,” police wrote in the affidavit as reported by Law&Crime. “There were also multiple smaller bruises along the top of the deceased infant’s cranium."
At around five in the morning that day, according to Pierson, she nursed the infant before going back to sleep. She discovered the infant not breathing when she later woke up during the day. Gammage "seemed uncaring" and "took several minutes to get up and help," according to her, after which she "frantically" tried to wake him. Pierson said that Gammage continued to "seem uncaring" when he eventually approached her to offer assistance. She highlighted that when Gammage dialed 911, he "became apologetic toward her and told her he hoped she wasn't mad at him." According to the police complaint, Pierson reportedly informed investigators that Gammage "has extreme anger issues and has recently killed several dogs by strangulation." In addition, the affidavit stated that Gammage "remained unemotional and seemed to lack care about the incident throughout contact" at the scene of his son's death.
Gammage allegedly informed authorities during a subsequent interview at the station that he last saw his child alive between 5.30 and 6 am that morning, just before he went back to sleep. When questioned about the bruises on his son's head, he claimed that the infant had hit his head on a "hard portion of the interior of the crib.” “Upon further interview with [Gammage], he admitted that he does have extreme anger issues and has been dealing with a lot of stress lately, including the infant frequently crying,” police wrote in the affidavit. “[Gammage] admitted that he recently strangled two dogs to death and attempted to dispose of their bodies to avoid getting in trouble.”
Gammage also acknowledged that on the evening of July 9, three days before his son's death, he woke up around 10 pm to the sound of his son sobbing. The affidavit adds that Gammage was "frustrated" that the baby "would not stop crying" when he tried to play with the child and "began tossing the infant in the air then catching him." “[Gammage] claimed he “accidentally” dropped the infant after about the 4th toss which caused the infant to land on his left side. [Gammage] reported the infant hit the floor “hard” when he landed,” the affidavit states. “[Gammage] reported the bruising and swelling on the infant’s face and head began after that, but he didn’t want to tell [Pierson] in fear of getting in trouble. [Gammage] reported the infant began acting unusual over the next couple of days, and when he saw the infant deceased this morning, his initial thought was something like he killed his kid.”
According to reports, Pierson acknowledged seeing her son's wounds and observing how the infant got increasingly "fussy" in the days that followed, but said she chose not to seek medical assistance because she believed the youngster was simply teething.
Gammage has been previously charged with one count of sexual assault against a minor in addition to the accusations related to his son's murder. A grand jury in Andrews County indicted Gammage on the allegation of sexual assault on May 19, according to a report from CBS7. A warrant was then issued for Gammage's arrest. The alleged crime involves a 15-year-old victim and occurred between 2019 and 2020.