Jurors hear from cop, 911 call, in baby murder case

By Joe Gorman

jgorman@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

The first police officer who arrived after a 911 call for a nonbreathing baby in a West Side apartment in 2012 testified Tuesday about how he tried to save the child.

Assad Chaibi, an 18-year veteran of the city police department who patrols a West Side beat, told jurors in the courtroom of Judge Shirley Christian how when he arrived about 3:15 p.m. Dec. 12, 2012, the baby’s father, Larry Dawson, 26, and his girlfriend were outside an Oregon Avenue apartment. Dawson’s 15-month-old son Rayvon was inside on a couch.

Rayvon died the next day at Akron Children’s Hospital.

Chaibi said in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court that the two told him the baby was inside and he saw the child on the couch, with fluid coming out of his mouth.

Chaibi said he performed chest compressions with his fingers, not his hands as he would on an older child or adult because of the size of the child.

However, he could not breathe into the baby’s mouth because of the fluid coming out, Chaibi said.

“With the fluids coming out of the baby’s nose and mouth, I would’ve drowned the baby if I did that,” Chaibi said.

Dawson, of Wesley Avenue, is charged with murder and two counts of child endangering for the death of Rayvon.

Prosecutors said an autopsy showed that Rayvon died of blunt force trauma to the back of the head.

Prosecutors say the baby died in the care of Dawson, but Dawson’s defense attorney claims that the injury could have happened without Dawson inflicting the injury.

Chaibi said Dawson and his girlfriend stayed outside while he was in the apartment, and when asked about their demeanor, Chaibi said it reminded him of “another day at the office.”

“He didn’t seem emotional. He didn’t seem concerned,” Chaibi said. “He’s on the phone a lot.”

Chaibi said he asked Dawson to call the child’s mother and was not sure who he was talking to on the phone.

Under cross examination from defense attorney Joseph Gardner, Chaibi said he was not sure if perhaps Dawson seemed distant because he was in a lot of shock about what was happening.

Chaibi also said he did not know if Dawson and his girlfriend had tried to revive the child before he got there.

Jurors also heard a 911 call made by Dawson’s girlfriend, asking for an ambulance because the child was not breathing.

When asked if she wanted to know how to perform CPR on the baby to get him breathing again, the girlfriend first said no and added, “just send an ambulance,” but then she changed her mind.

A male voice in the background could be heard saying, “Tell him he ain’t breathing!” and, “Please, please, please.”

As the tape was being played several people in the courtroom were crying.

Jurors were seated Monday and began hearing evidence Tuesday.

Rayvon’s doctor testified that he last saw the baby in September 2012 and that Rayvon was due back for another checkup the month he died, although an appointment had not yet been made.

He also said Rayvon was progressing at a normal pace of growth.

In the afternoon, the doctor that treated Rayvon at Akron Children’s Hospital told jurors there was no way the injuries Rayvon suffered could have come about by any way but blunt-force trauma.

Dr. Malhotra Vivec said Dawson told him Rayvon went to sleep, and when Rayvon woke up he had trouble breathing.

He said the only way Rayvon could have sustained the injuries he died from were from being struck hard, from a fall from a high distance or from being in a severe auto accident.

“This child had a very severe injury to the brain,” Vivec said.

“The history did not match the clinical findings we were seeing.”