Ohio mom and her lover charged with murder of her 8-month-old infant son from 'blunt force trauma'
COLUMBUS, OHIO: A woman and her boyfriend have reportedly been charged with the murder of her eight-month-old son. Savanna Dawson, 23, and her lover Kyrios L March Jr, 24, were taken into custody on Friday, January 13, and booked into the Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail.
Police in Columbus, Ohio, reportedly had been looking for the couple in the alleged murder of baby Marquel Smith. Court records indicate that officers responded to their home on January 9 after a report of the child not breathing. The infant was rushed to a hospital where doctors pronounced him dead but also discovered suspicious injuries in the process.
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“Columbus Police Homicide Unit was notified after doctors at Children’s Hospital found numerous broken bones,” police noted in documents obtained by Law&Crime. “Some broken bones were healing fractures and the right leg was an acute fracture.” When Dawson and March were brought in for questioning, the couple allegedly said they had no idea how the child had received the injuries and suggested other children in the home could have been responsible. “Ms Dawson did not know how the infant received so many broken bones and claimed that the other three-year-old children may have been to blame,” investigators wrote in the probable cause affidavit against the mother. “Ms Dawson was released pending further investigation.”
While these other children weren't identified, Marquel’s father, Georgia resident DeShawn Smith, vehemently denied that his two daughters, who also resided with Dawson, had anything to do with his son's demise. “They loved their bubby,” he told WRGT on January 12, while the authorities were searching for his ex-wife and her boyfriend. “They would get on you, a grown person, for messing with him. That makes that statement.” The devastated father added, "To lose my son, my baby boy, it's a feeling not many people understand. My son, he didn’t deserve what he got. But they deserve what they are going to get."
Upon "further investigation," doctors concluded Marquel's death was homicide. An autopsy carried out by the Franklin County Coroner’s Office on January 11 determined that the infant died from blunt force trauma. The autopsy report stated that he suffered from “brain bleed and several bruises on the subdermal skull." It also determined that Marquel's “numerous broken bones were consistent with abuse and not accidental in nature." Dawson and March surrendered themselves to police in Perry County after they were found in Dawson's hometown of New Straitsville. “That’s an area that she knew a lot of people, most likely seen her,” DeShawn Smith added. “They weren’t going to get far, just knowing their situation, with the people around them, and stuff like that, they weren’t going to make it that far.”
Police said the suspects were taken into custody without incident and charged with murder in connection with the baby's death. As mentioned, they are currently remanded in custody at the Southeastern Ohio Regional Jail as they await an extradition hearing before being turned over to Columbus authorities. Marquel's loved ones are asking for donations to be made directly to the Shaw-Davis Funeral Home as the extended family prepares for the infant's funeral service, WRGT reported.