Dad charged in death of infant

FAYETTEVILLE — A Fayetteville man faces a charge of second-degree murder in connection with the Aug. 29 death of his 4-week-old daughter, while the infant was left in his care.

Charles Dugan, 26, was initially booked into the Washington County jail at 4:51 p.m. Thursday in connection with battery. A charge of second-degree murder was added to the jail log later. Dugan is being held with no bail set.

Police say officers were called to a home on Kantz Drive at 8:55 p.m. Aug. 29 to assist the Fayetteville Fire Department and Central Emergency Medical Services. A caller, later identified as a neighbor, reported a 4-weekold infant was in cardiac arrest and didn’t appear to be breathing. Emergency life-saving measures were attempted for several minutes at the scene, according to a preliminary report from the Fayetteville Police Department.

The infant was taken to Arkansas Children’s Hospital Northwest, where she was pronounced dead.

During the initial investigation, police said, the girl’s mother, who wasn’t identified in the report, said she left the infant alone with Dugan around 5:15 p.m., saying he usually watched the baby while she was at work.

Dugan told investigators he put the infant in her crib while swaddled in a blanket and propped a bottle in her mouth by using another blanket. He said he went to the bathroom and returned in about 10 minutes to find the infant choking on milk, with milk coming out of her nose.

Dugan said he tried to call 911 but the call didn’t connect, according to the report. He told police he went to a neighbor’s apartment and the neighbor called 911 and attempted CPR.

The infant’s body was sent to the state Crime Laboratory for an autopsy, police said in the report. In early December, the medical examiner’s report identified head injuries caused by blunt-force trauma, with some recent and some healing rib fractures, and determined the cause of death to be homicide. The medical examiner’s report indicates the time frame for the head injuries and the recent rib fractures was less than 24 hours, police said in their report.

Dugan was interviewed a second time Dec. 6 and told police he had fallen asleep with the infant on his chest and she had fallen and hit her head on the floor or on a coffee table. He told police in the second interview he never told anyone else about the baby falling.

According to the report, Dugan was arrested for battery unrelated to the death of the infant Thursday. On Friday, Dugan was questioned again and said he didn’t remember what had happened to the infant in August. He was subsequently arrested in connection with second-degree murder.