A Conroe couple, accused of shaking their 5-week-old son with their hands, remain in the Montgomery County Jail after the baby died Saturday and was found to have suffered a broken neck, police said.
Denette Elizabeth Williams, 23, and Jimmie Preston Hood, 22, were both charged Tuesday with injury to a child, a first-degree felony offense. Criminal complaints accuse the couple of seriously injuring their baby boy, Braylon Hood. Both parents are being held in lieu of $250,000 bail each.
Preliminary results from an autopsy done in Dallas, which were released Sunday, indicated the baby suffered a broken neck and had signs of older injuries, possibly some fractured ribs, said Conroe Police Department Sgt. Joe Smart.
The baby's father also faces an additional charge of failure to report a felony with serious bodily injury or death results, Montgomery County Jail records show — a charge that carries an additional $5,000 bail. Hood is accused of failing to immediately report his infant son's fatal injuries, Smart said.
"We ran everything down to the (district attorney's) office, and they seem to think the dad knew more about this than he should have and didn't report or didn't take steps to prevent this incident," Smart said.
No CPS complaints
The parents have no other children, and Child Protective Services has no history of complaints or previous investigations involving the family, said CPS spokeswoman Gwen Carter.
The baby's parents told police they are married, but a marriage license for them could not immediately be located by the Houston Chronicle. Hood works as an installer for home security systems, police said. Williams has a bachelor's degree in business management, but was a stay-at-home mother, Smart said.
Efforts to reach Williams' and Hood's family members for comment Tuesday were unsuccessful.
Williams called 911 at 1:20 a.m. Saturday from the family's rented home in the 300 block of Crest Hill Drive, off Texas 105 in southeast Conroe, to report the baby was not breathing, police said. The mother sounded very upset when she made the 911 call, Smart said.
Police arrived at the family's home to find the baby's father and a grandparent trying to revive him, Smart said. The infant's mother was visibly upset when officers arrived. Police saw signs of abuse and some bruises on the child, so they notified detectives.
The baby was taken by ambulance to Conroe Regional Medical Center, where a doctor pronounced him dead at 2:30 a.m., Smart said.
The parents initially told police they didn't know what happened to the baby, Smart said. Both were arrested Monday when they arrived at the Conroe Police Department to be interviewed by detectives, Smart said.
Police declined to say if the parents have been cooperating with their investigation.
CPS caseworkers, who were notified of the case Monday, have not yet questioned the baby's parents, but said they will attempt to interview them as well as the couple's relatives who live in the local area.
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