A Gwinnett County father accused of beating his 10-week-old baby son and fracturing his skull has been charged with murder, Channel 2 Action News reported Wednesday night.
Kelvin Lewis Odom, 50, was arrested last Thursday and charged with first-degree child cruelty. His injured newborn was alive at the time at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
The baby died Sunday.
Gwinnett County police spokesman Cpl. Deon Washington said Wednesday that the findings of an autopsy would determine if additional charges would be filed against Odom. The autopsy showed the child’s death was related to his injuries, according to Channel 2.
Police believe Odom, who is being held at the Gwinnett County jail without bond, was the only adult at home when the child was injured. Four other children, ranging up to age 14, live in the apartment.
The Division of Family and Children Services is also involved in the investigation.
Gwinnett police and fire officials initially responded to Odom’s apartment on Water Vistas Parkway near Lawrenceville at about 4:30 a.m. on Sept. 2, after they received a 911 call saying the 10-week-old was not breathing. The child, however, “had resumed breathing” and “appeared normal” when authorities arrived.
“… Odom was afforded the opportunity to have the child transported to the hospital,” Washington said in an emailed statement. “He declined to have the child transported by ambulance.”
About three hours later, the child’s mother came home from work and noticed the newborn was having breathing problems and was discolored, Washington said. Odom told the child’s mother that he had “fallen off the couch and landed on the floor.”
The couple drove the child “a short distance” before deciding to call 911, Washington said. The baby was then taken by ambulance to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta — where it was discovered he had a fractured skull and closed head trauma, police said.
He died just before 1 p.m. Sunday.
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