8-week-old Lafayette boy hospitalized, police investigating possible abuse
Oct 20 2010
http://www.dailycamera.com/lafayette-news/ci_163893758-week-old Lafayette boy has been hospitalized with serious injuries after his father told police he fell down the stairs while holding the child.
Lafayette police and the Boulder County District Attorney's Office are investigating whether child abuse was involved.
"Any time an infant is injured, we investigate," Lafayette Police Chief Rick Bashor said.
The father called paramedics to the family's Lydia Drive home in the Centaur Village West neighborhood on Monday morning, reporting that they had fallen down the stairs, Bashor said. The boy was taken by ambulance to Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center in Lafayette, where he was evaluated and released, Bashor said.
"There were no injuries diagnosed that would prohibit the child from being released," he said.
Later that evening, at about 6 p.m., the father called paramedics again to report that the infant was having trouble breathing, Bashor said. The boy was taken to Children's Hospital in Denver, where he remained Wednesday night.
"Our investigation started at that point," Bashor said.
The child's condition is not known at this time, but his injuries are considered serious, Bashor said.
Police would not release the family's address or the names of the child or parents.
In Centaur Village West, a modest neighborhood of townhomes and duplexes, neighbors said they saw emergency crews in front of one of the duplexes in the 1900 block of Lydia twice on Monday, but few people knew the family that lives there.
The address is listed to Joaquin Campos.
Linda Hostetter, who lives around the corner from the house, said the second time, the crews stayed for hours, with police remaining at the home through the night.
She said the couple hasn't lived there long, and she hadn't even realized they had a baby. She did recall seeing people with gift bags, as if from a baby shower, entering the home a few months ago.
A woman in the other unit of the duplex said she knew the couple well. She said they were very excited to welcome their first baby.
"They're good people," said the woman, who didn't want to give her name. "I'm sure it was an accident."
Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett said his office plans to investigate the case carefully.
"It's a very high priority for my office that we assist the Lafayette police in investigating this case thoroughly and determine whether charges are appropriate," Garnett said. "Obviously, the safety of children is a top priority for my office, and these cases are always difficult."
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JOAQUIN CAMPOS
Lafayette baby dies; police continue potential abuse investigation
Oct 21 2010
http://www.dailycamera.com/lafayette-news/ci_16398195The baby at the center of a Lafayette child abuse investigation has died.
Officials said Thursday that 10-week-old Lyon Campos died at 10:10 p.m. Wednesday.
Lafayette police first responded to a 911 call in the 1900 block of Lydia Drive from a father reporting that he had fallen down the stairs while holding his baby on Monday morning. Lyon was transported to Exempla Good Samaritan Hospital in Lafayette, where he was treated and released.
Police were called back to the same address almost 12 hours later on a report that the infant was not breathing. He was taken back to Exempla, then airlifted to Children's Hospital in Aurora.
Lafayette police said Wednesday they were investigating the case as possible child abuse. Police initially said the baby boy was 8 weeks old.
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The Lafayette Police Department, the Boulder County District Attorney's Office and the Boulder County Coroner's Office continue to investigate the case, police said.
District Attorney Stan Garnett said his office will review the autopsy findings before making a decision about charges.
Police have not released the names of the boy's parents. Neighbors reported seeing emergency crews outside a duplex in the Centaur Village West neighborhood twice on Monday, with police staying for many hours after the second call.
A nighbor said the couple who lives there is young but was very excited about the baby, their first.
Lafayette police spokesman Gene McCausey said he could not discuss whether police believe the baby was injured a second time on Monday or whether the initial injuries were more severe than they seemed at first.
Asked whether police are investigating both parents or just the father, McCausey said he could not discuss the details of the case. However, the boy's mother was not home at the time the injuries occurred.
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Lafayette father arrested in baby's death
Oct 21 2010
Police: Joaquin Campos, 21, suspected of causing 10-week-old's fatal injuries
Oct 28 2010
http://www.dailycamera.com/lafayette-news/ci_16462634The father of a Lafayette infant who died last week after suffering multiple injuries -- including broken bones and brain hemorrhaging -- was arrested Thursday night on suspicion of child abuse resulting in death.
Lafayette police have been investigating the death of 10-week-old Lyon Campos since he was rushed to the hospital Oct. 18 after his father, Joaquin Campos, said he fell down the stairs while holding the baby. Lyon died the night of Oct. 20, and officers said Campos was cooperating with the investigation until Thursday.
Lafayette police received information Thursday that Campos, 21, was talking about fleeing the area, said Cmdr. Gene McCausey, so officers went to his home at 1927 Lydia Drive to arrest him on a warrant out of Commerce City and talk to him more about their child abuse investigation.
"We explained to him that he was under arrest, and he flipped out," McCausey said. "He physically fought with officers and was taken into custody with minor injuries."
Campos was booked into the Boulder County Jail on suspicion of charges including resisting arrest and second-degree assault on a police officer, McCausey said. After investigators interviewed Campos at the jail, they recommended a separate set of charges in connection with his son's death, including knowing and reckless child abuse resulting in death.
The department also is recommending that charges of child abuse and domestic violence be filed in connection with an earlier incident that his wife reported, McCausey said.
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"He had been cooperating with us, and that's why we didn't arrest him earlier," he said.
McCausey said Lyon didn't have any significant injuries when he went to the hospital in the morning, and investigators suspect Campos did something to cause the fatal injuries to the child during the day.
"From the injuries to the baby, clearly something happened other than falling down the steps," McCausey said.
The infant had broken ribs, broken femurs in both legs and hemorrhaging in the brain when he was brought to the hospital the second time, according to McCausey.
"There were typical shaken-baby-type injuries," he said. "He had internal head injuries."
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Boulder County District Attorney Stan Garnett said his office hasn't yet decided what charges to file against Campos based on the police recommendations.
"I think there is probable cause to take him into custody on the issues related to his child's death," Garnett said. "We will carefully review the evidence developed in the investigation and make a determination which charges to actually file Friday or early next week."
Police: Lafayette father shook, threw and squeezed infant
Oct 29 2010
http://www.dailycamera.com/lafayette-news/ci_16469137A Lafayette father arrested Thursday on suspicion of causing the injuries that killed his 10-week-old son told authorities that he squeezed, threw and shook the infant “pretty good and pretty hard” in an attempt to revive him when he stopped breathing.
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A doctor told investigators that Campos has “given no explanation for why Lyon would stop breathing,” according to the report. The doctor from Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center said Campos “is giving a backwards story and that the shaking preceded the stop in breathing.”
ampos, wearing a suicide smock, made his first appearance in a Boulder County Jail courtroom Friday, when a judge set his bond at $500,000.
Campos is suspected of knowing and reckless child abuse resulting in death in connection with his son's fatal injuries. He also faces charges of resisting arrest and second-degree assault on a police officer after he allegedly fought investigators when they came to interview him Thursday, according to Lafayette police.
The Lafayette Police Department is recommending that charges of child abuse and domestic violence be filed in connection with an earlier incident that Campos' common-law wife, Angela Pickering, reported. But the Boulder County District Attorney's Office hasn't yet decided which charges to file when Campos returns to court Tuesday.
Father talks to police
Lafayette police began investigating Campos after responding to a 911 call at his 1927 Lydia Drive home about 7:22 a.m. Oct. 18. Campos told investigators he tripped and fell down four steps while holding his son “football-style” on his forearm at about 5:30 a.m., according to the report.
He said he squeezed his son, and when they landed Lyon's head struck the basement floor and his leg became caught between Joaquin's elbow and the stairs, the report said. Campos eventually called 911, and Lyon was taken to Exempla Good Samaritan Medical Center in Lafayette, where doctors conducted scans and checked the infant's extremities before sending him home, according to the report.
The doctors told Campos that Lyon “should be fine,” investigators reported.
Campos told detectives that in the evening the infant suddenly got a “help me” look on his face like he couldn't breathe. Campos and one of his roommates called 911 and attempted CPR.
At Exempla, doctors determined Lyon had a punctured lung and split lip, and he was airlifted to Children's Hospital, where he lost a heartbeat but regained a pulse after CPR was administered, according to the report. After further inspection, Lyon was found to have a bruised tongue, knee abrasions, a broken femur and tibia, brain swelling and a skull fracture, the report said.
Investigators noted that Campos, while at the hospital, appeared to have “no emotion” at first and later became anxious.
During an interview with detectives, Campos said that when he noticed Lyon was not breathing, he tried chest compressions — with a lot of pressure on his lungs — and, while squeezing him, shook him back and forth.
“He said Lyon's head was not supported and it flopped around,” according to the report. “He also turned Lyon sideways, so that when he shook him, Lyon's head shook back and forth ‘really hard.'”
Campos also told investigators that he threw Lyon in the air twice above his head after he stopped breathing, the report said.
“Joaquin said his own mother threw him around a little when he stopped breathing as a child,” according to the report.
Campos told investigators he was in foster care when he was 2 years old and was adopted before being placed back in foster care at age 13. He told police he met his real parents at age 19 and said that was a “mistake.” He became homeless after that, the report said.
He said Pickering has been his common-law wife for three years. She goes to Westwood College in Denver on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, putting Campos in charge of the baby those days. He doesn't work but receives Social Security income, according to the report.
Campos told police about other times Lyon could have been hurt in his care. Once, when Lyon was about a month old, Campos said he was throwing him in the air and dropped him. On another occasion, according to the report, he shut Lyon's head in the refrigerator door.
He also told investigators that he used to tap Lyon's mouth when he cried to make him sound like an Indian, but once made him bleed and gave him swollen lips.
Mother: “He's responsible”
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Pickering later told police that Campos had assaulted her and she “knows that Joaquin did something to Lyon and that he's responsible for what happened,” according to the report.
“Angela said that if Joaquin would hit her, then he would hit Lyon,” the report said. “She said she thought he did it more intentionally than accidentally.”
Pickering told detectives that Campos once threw a baby bottle at her head while she was holding Lyon, cracking the bottle. She also said that Campos once slammed a door on her stomach while she was pregnant, according to the report.
“Angela said she felt somewhat responsible for everything that happened to Lyon because she should have left Joaquin after the first domestic violence incident,” the report said. “She said she threatened to leave Joaquin after each incident, but never followed through.”
Holly Downs, 22, of Northglenn, said she's the godmother of Lyon and has known both Campos and Pickering since high school.
It's a tragedy,” Downs said. “It's not up to me to decide Joaquin's guilt or innocence, but it makes no sense whatsoever.”
She said the family is overcome with grief in dealing with Lyon's death.
I can't imagine how difficult it is for Angela,” she said, adding that Campos has never been violent toward Lyon.
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Originally Posted by FknKraze
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