A father from Minnesota has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of his 4-week-old son. According to KARE11, Orancy Chea, allegedly admitted to the police that he had gotten angry and frustrated with the baby's crying and threw him down on his back, causing his head to slam into the concrete floor.
The Ramsey Country Medical Examiner's Office did an autopsy on the infant and stated that a lung contusion, lacerated liver, a skull fracture with a brain bleed, broken ribs, bruises to the head and internal abdominal bleeding are all of the infant's injuries. The cause of death was the skull fracture, according to the investigators.
The arrest
Medical personnel came to the home of the 23-year-old suspect at 11 a.m. on April 23 right after they received reports of a child that was unconscious with a 104-degree fever. They rushed the infant to the Children's Hospital but he died after an hour.
According to the St. Paul police, they spoke with a neighbor who reported sounds of pounding and baby crying from the apartment. The neighbor stated that the crying lasted for 10 to 15 minutes. The pounding sounds were three to four cycles that lasted a minute when the baby cried. According to the WCCO, the pounding sounds were like the sound of someone striking a wall.
The police interviewed Chea and he said that the baby had been running a fever and that he called a hospital where the medical staff told him to bring the boy for an examination. However, they decided to wait and on the night of April 22, he said that the infant had a seizure. The following morning, he said he found the infant not breathing in his crib.
According to the arrest report, Chea replied "not that I know of" when he was asked by the police if he was responsible for the injuries of the infant. But then he nodded and began to cry when detectives asked him if he lost his temper and at that point, he admitted that he caused the injuries on the baby and that nobody else was responsible.
Murder cases involving newborn babies
This is not the first incident of a parent killing their child due to temper. In March 2020, Zohal Sakwall called the police in Nashville, Tennessee, to confess to the killing of her four-month-old daughter Natalie that happened in 2010. The 40-year-old suspect was arrested and charged with the child's murder. During a police interview, Sakwall told the investigators that she'd killed Natalie because of the disruption caused by the child in her life.
At the time of the child's death, Sakwall claimed that her daughter died in a freak accident, which she said happened after her baby got tangled in a blanket.
Sakwall added that at the time that she had laid her daughter down in her crib for a nap, the little girl had become entangled in the comforter after she stepped away. The mother also said that the baby had been unresponsive when she returned, with an autopsy and subsequent investigation finding no reason to doubt her claims. Sakwall has now been charged with first-degree murder and is currently being held at Nashville Metropolitan County Jail.
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