Death of toddler being watched by family friend ruled homicide
By Joe gorman
youngstown
The death of a baby earlier this month on the South Side has been ruled a homicide.
Lt. Doug Bobovnyik said Friday the ruling came after an autopsy was done this week by the Summit County Coroner’s office.
Jamar Jones, 2, was in a home in the 700 block of Pasadena Avenue. An ambulance was called just after 8 p.m. Dec. 12, and the baby was taken to Akron Children’s Hospital Mahoning Valley, Beeghly Campus.
From there, Jamar was transferred to the hospital’s main campus in Akron, where he died, which is why the autopsy was performed by Summit County. The baby died a few days after being transferred, Bobovnyik said.
The autopsy showed that the baby had severe injuries to the head and brain, Bobovnyik said.
Bobovnyik said the baby was dropped off at the home by his mother about 3 p.m. on Dec. 12 to be watched, and the mother was gone all that day and night and most of the next day, Bobovnyik said.
Bobovnyik said an investigation is continuing, and detectives next will consult with the Mahoning County Prosecutor’s Office before deciding what charges will be filed.
The death of the baby is the city’s 18th homicide of 2013 and the second of a baby this year. In May, a 4-month-old, Ila Lee, died of a blow to the head in a Woodside Avenue home. The father of the baby, Evan Lee, 22, is charged with murder, felonious assault and child endangering. He is in the Mahoning County jail awaiting trial.
According to Vindicator files, the last time a child was killed before 2013 was 2007, when a pregnant woman was shot to death as part of a domestic dispute on Center Street that also killed the mother’s 8-year-old son.
In 2012 the city had 26 homicides.