Stepfather faces murder charges
Troy police investigated the suspicious February death of 6-year-old Davonte Paul
A complicated investigation that started with the suspicious February death of a 6-year-old boy has resulted in the boy’s stepfather being charged with murder, Troy police said Friday.
Kevin Cox, 40, was charged with a single count of second-degree murder in the killing of Davonte Paul, police said. On Thursday, Cox was found near his home on Joshua Avenue in Kerhonkson, Ulster County. He was transported back to Troy, arraigned and sent to the Rensselaer County Jail without bail. Police identified Cox as the boy’s stepfather. Cox’s arrest ended the nearly threemonth-long investigation that started in Troy, and then went to Pittsfield, Mass. and ended outside Kingston.
“This investigation was long and thorough and had many twists and turns along the way,” according to the release issued by Deputy Chief Dan Dewolf announcing the arrest.
The case began about 10:15 a.m. Feb. 9 when patrol officers answered a call at 709
Fifth Ave. for an unresponsive child in a bathtub. Davonte was taken to Samaritan Hospital in Troy, then transferred to Albany Medical Center Hospital where he was placed on life support. Davonte died two days later.
Nicole Bauer, the boy’s mother, claimed he drowned. Authorities ruled the cause of death was hypothermia, setting off the homicide investigation. Police said no fluid was found in the boy’s lungs, casting further doubt on the assertion he drowned.
Troy Detective Sgt. Steven Seney and Detective William Bowles were assigned as the lead investigators in the case and pursued leads that led to Cox’s arrest. Troop G investigators assisted in the investigation.
Three days after Davonte’s death, Bauer and Cox were in Pittsfield. On Valentine’s Day, the two were allegedly involved in a suicide pact in which Cox attempted to kill himself by overdosing on heroin, police said.
Cox was hospitalized in Pittsfield in grave condition and eventually recovered. Bauer and Cox then moved to Kerhonkson.
While Davonte was on life support, an official from Child Protective Services also came to the hospital and took photos of bruises on the boy’s arms and feet, his biological father, Freeston Paul of Ulster County told the Times Union. Paul then received notices — dated Feb. 11 — from Rensselaer County Family Court that concluded neglect had occurred. The letters, obtained by the Times Union, state that a Child Protective Services agency had “substantiated” that Bauer and Cox, had allegedly “neglected your child.”
Paul said the acknowledgment came after officials in Ulster County ignored his repeated warnings that his son was imperiled living with his mother and Cox, an ex-convict who had served prison time in a domestic violence case.