Father of dead baby speaks out from jail
Defending himself for the first time publicly, the father of 8month-old King Jay Davila maintained in an exclusive letter to the San Antonio Express-News that his son died accidentally after falling from a bed at his Northeast Side home.
Christopher Davila, 34, remains in jail in lieu of a $1.25 million bond after police accused him of failing to seek medical care for King Jay, whom he calls King, and staging an elaborate kidnapping to mislead police about the boy’s death.
In an exclusive letter, Davila wrote that he was experiencing back pain the day of the accident, sometime in early January. He said he went into the garage to smoke marijuana, leaving his son unbuckled in a car seat on the edge of the bed.
“Once I was done I came back inside and layed (sic) down and pulled the blanket a little,” Davila wrote. “That’s when he fell.”
Davila said he got up quickly to pick up King, who was already unresponsive.
“I just hugged my son crying not thinking straight at all,” Davila wrote. “All I was thinking was I lost one son and I was going to loose (sic) all my other sons.”
Throughout the letter, Davila acknowledged that he had made a mistake by smoking marijuana and leaving King unsupervised, but what happened afterward was an accident. He wrote that he would do anything for his six sons, who are between ages 3 and 12.“I know it was so stupid of me and unresponsible (sic) of me to do,” he wrote. “I’m so hurt by my actions. I’m going to have to deal with that for the rest of my life. Loosing (sic) my son and loosing (sic) my family. Everything that I worked so hard for.”
Davila said he is expecting a seventh child with Jasmine Gonzales, whom he calls his wife. The Express-News has previously identified Gonzales as Davila’s
fiancée.
Davila said his mother, Beatrice Sampayo, 64, and his cousin, Angie Torres, 45, knew nothing about King’s death. That contradicts statements by police that Sampayo and Torres helped Davila cover up King’s death by staging the kidnapping. All three have been charged with tampering with evidence.
Police have hinted that they do not believe Davila’s latest account. Davila is also charged with child endangerment, possession of a controlled substance and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
The Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office concluded that King died of a blunt force trauma injury. It ruled his death a homicide. That determination can be different than the charge brought by police.
Davila said in his letter that the pills authorities found on him belonged to Sampayo, who takes methadone, morphine and fentanyl to treat terminal ovarian and bone cancer. He said the gun belonged to his cousin.
Davila sent the letter Thursday in response to an inquiry a week prior from an Express-News reporter. The letter appears to be authentic, as his handwriting is similar to that found in court records.
In the letter, Davila does not address the staged kidnapping or how he placed his son in a backpack and buried him in field on the Northeast Side.
Davila said he could not provide many details on the advice of his attorney, Anton Paul Hajek III. Hajek did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
For the most part, Davila’s story is similar to the account he gave to police when he was arrested in King’s death and burial, but there are a few minor inconsistencies.
In the letter, Davila said King was unresponsive immediately after he fell from the bed. According to police, Davila told them that King was awake initially and that he tried to keep the boy from falling asleep.
He also told police that he had been playing video games prior to the purported accident, a detail he did not include in his letter to the Express-News.
Davila said he and Gonzales both work full time to support their kids. He said Child Protective Services has never had a case involving him or his six kids, whom he had with three different women.
Five of the children — all except for King — spent a majority of their time in the care of their mothers, though Davila had visitation rights, court records show.
Davila said he hadn’t used marijuana in a long time but decided to after being treated for back pain at a hospital — a claim he said could be confirmed by hospital officials.
Davila said the aftermath of his son’s death has been compounded by intense scrutiny from strangers on social media.
“Not only am (sic) me and my wife still grieving my son’s death, we are also having to deal with people threatening us,” he wrote.
“I understand that the people from San Antonio deserve a (sic) explanation and they’re entitled to there (sic) own opinions,” he added. “But come on, we’re already going through so much right now to be dealing with things like that.”
“You understand right?” he asked.