Missouri man abused girlfriend's 8-month-old baby for months before killing him by dropping him from a great height
A 31-year-old Missouri man has been charged with abuse or neglect of a child resulting in death, abuse of a child with a serious physical injury and four additional counts of child abuse on Thursday, in the death of his girlfriend's eight-month-old son. Danesha Cannamore, 31, who was arrested with her boyfriends Sylvester Knighten Jr. on Wednesday has also been charged with two counts of child endangerment.
They were tracked down when the cops responded to a call for an unresponsive infant at an apartment in Florissant.
The baby, who according to Fox 2 Now reports had been abused for months, was abused by Knighten; he also abused Cannamore's three older daughters aged three, six and ten.
On Tuesday, things took a turn for the worse when Knighten dropped the baby boy from a great height. Police officers responded to a call from the Stonebridge Townhomes on Stonebury Court on Wednesday morning around 11 am about the unresponsive baby, who was rushed to the hospital but passed away there.
According to medical reports and court documents, Knighten's abuse ranged from hitting the baby in the head and biting his neck and face, to biting his nipples off. Florissant Chief of Police Timothy Fagan, who called it one of the - if not the - worst case he has seen throughout his career said, "This young man endured some things that no human should have to especially someone that is eight months old. There could be no more innocent of a person than an eight-month-old child. To see the things that were done to him was really difficult to deal with."
Knighten, who reportedly has past felony convictions in Missouri for drug possession and robbery, and Cannamore are being held at the St Louis County Jail currently and while the former's bond is set at $1 million, his girlfriend's bond is set at $500,000. Meanwhile, Cannamore’s three daughters are currently in the custody of Missouri's Division of Family Services.