Man charged in death of infant

A Baltimore man is charged with beating to death a 1-year-old he was babysitting.

Baltimore police wrote in a news release July 21 that Paul Hardy, 31, is charged with murder and child abuse in the October death of Zariea Dixon. The baby died after being taken to a hospital suffering from brain hemorrhaging, police said.

On Oct. 8, officers were flagged down in the 600 block of Mosher Street by a woman whose child wasn’t breathing, according to charging documents. Upon arriving at the woman’s house, police wrote, officers encountered Hardy carrying Zariea.

Zariea was taken to the hospital, according to Detective Nicole Monroe, where she was taken off life support three days later.

According to charging documents, the mother identified Hardy as Zariea’s “god brother” and said she left the baby with him while she went shopping.

Officers wrote in charging documents that the 31-year-old Hardy told investigators that he placed Zariea on her mother’s bed when he began to experience “severe pain from his medical condition” and to took a shower to help alleviate the pain.

“He said at some point he awakened from the pain while in the shower,” charging documents state. “… He said he heard [Zariea] throwing up and coughing at which time, he stated he attempted to help her.”

Hardy told officers that he put her in the shower before running to a nearby house to call 911, who advised him to perform CPR. Charging documents state that Hardy said he may have fallen down the

stairs twice while holding Zariea and could have banged her head when trying to do CPR.

The chief medical examiner’s office concluded Zariea’s hemorrhaging was due to blunt force trauma and that she died due to head and neck injuries, according to the charging documents.

Hardy was arrested June 17 in Georgia, Monroe said. He was extradited July 2 to Baltimore, police said.

Hardy faces a potential life sentence.

No attorney is listed as representing Hardy in online court records.