Father indicted in 2012 baby death

Seabrook man accused of beating infant; delay in murder charge remains unexplained

His body bruised all over, Tristan Brakebill was just 35 days old when his mother and a concerned neighbor took him from his home in Seabrook to one hospital, then another. From there, he was flown by helicopter ambulance to a third hospital, where he died 23 days later.

Now, seven years after the infant’s death, his father has been indicted on a charge of murder, accused of fatally beating the little boy.

John David Brakebill is accused of inflicting multiple injuries to the infant’s head and torso around June 20, 2012, according to information from a May probable cause hearing. Brakebill was arrested on May 14, 2019, before the grand jury indicted him last Wednesday. Brakebill has posted $100,000 bond.

Several years passed between the baby’s death and when authorities apparently began making major headway in the case.

In an August 2017 interview, a neighbor of the baby’s mother told police that Brakebill moved in with the expectant mother, as well as her other two sons, prior to Tristan’s birth.

The neighbor often babysat the child but was asked to visit the couple’s apartment on June 20, 2012, because something was “wrong” with Tristan, according to the probable cause hearing.

When she arrived, she saw the baby wrapped in blankets, unresponsive and possibly seizing, a prosecutor said in the hearing. The neighbor rolled back the blankets and saw bruises all over the infant’s body, prompting her to urge the new parents to go to the hospital.

The father said they didn’t need to seek emergency treatment for the baby, but the neighbor was persistent. She and the mother eventually took the baby to St. John’s Hospital, where they waited as the baby shook and had tremors, she told police. They were told the hospital didn’t treat infants, and almost drove home before the neighbor persuaded the mother to go to Clear Lake Hospital.

Tristan was lifeflighted from there to Memorial Hermann, where he died about three weeks later. It’s unclear what caused the lapse in time between the baby’s death and Brakebill’s arrest, as the Seabrook Police Department did not respond to a request for comment.

Police also spoke in 2017 with the baby’s maternal grandmother, who said she had seen Tristan just the day before the hospital visit. Police obtained the grandmother’s cellphone videos and photos showing the baby looking happy and healthy. The videos also showed carpeted flooring in the couple’s apartment, the prosecutor said.

The grandmother said that on June 20, 2012, the mother left the children in Brakebill’s care while she went to apply for a job.

The mother later explained her child’s injuries to medical officials, saying the father told her that one of the infant’s siblings fell off an ottoman and kicked the baby in the head. She said the baby was healthy when she left the residence.

Brakebill told Child Protective Services officials a slightly different story, including that the baby fell out of a bouncer seat before hitting the floor.

Authorities determined that the injuries weren’t consistent with the couple’s stories, and the level of extreme force to sustain the bruises and fractures were “further proof of physical abuse,” the prosecutor said.

Medical officials determined the manner of death as homicide, with the cause of death being complications of blunt trauma of the head with subdural hemorrhages.

Along with several serious head and brain injuries, the baby also had trauma to the torso and other limbs. Tristan had a fractured clavicle, multiple rib fractures, hemorrhaging along the spinal cord, and long bone fractures of the left and right femur and one tibia. The injuries were the result of at least two traumatic episodes, according to a medical consultation.

Brakebill is accused of shaking and hitting Tristan with an unknown object, charging documents state.