Pittsburgh man charged with homicide in connection to 5-day-old infant’s death

A Northview Heights man has been charged with homicide in the death of his infant son.

The arrest stems from an incident on Dec. 15.

According to Pittsburgh Public Safety, police were called to a home in the 600 block of Mount Pleasant Road at about 11:35 p.m. for a report of an infant in distress.

When they arrived they found the 5-day-old boy unresponsive. He was taken to UPMC Children’s Hospital in critical condition and pronounced dead a short time later.

The infant was identified by authorities as Jah’Shawn O. Martin.

Friday, Pittsburgh police arrested 30-year-old Shawn Martin in connection to the death.

In a criminal complaint, police said the infant suffered “very substantial injuries to his head that caused his death.”

The complaint alleged Mr. Martin was home alone with the infant and his other 2-year-old child at the time of the incident.

The child’s mother allegedly told police she was hospitalized that day and was on the phone with Mr. Martin for an extended period of time. The complaint said she told police they both fell asleep on the phone and she woke up with the phone call still active and heard the infant screaming.

Police said she tried to wake Mr. Martin up several times before eventually calling a neighbor to check on them. According to the complaint, the neighbor told police they went to check on Mr. Martin and the children, entered the home through the back door and found the infant in a baby chair/bouncer.

The neighbor took a picture of the infant in the baby seat and sent it to the mother, the complaint said. However, the mother allegedly told police she was suspicious as the infant was not seated correctly in the chair. The mother then told the neighbor to wake Mr. Martin up. The complaint said Mr. Martin then called the mother and told her the infant was not breathing.

In an interview with police, Mr. Martin allegedly said he put the baby in a blanket and then into the chair located on the floor next to a couch. He then allegedly told police he fell asleep on the couch and was eventually woken up by his neighbor before finding that the infant was unresponsive and calling 911.

The complaint went on to detail the child’s injuries and a doctor with the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office told police there was “no way” a roughly five-inch fall from the baby chair would have caused the infant’s injuries, and the 2-year-old at the home would have been unable to generate enough force to cause them, either.

Mr. Martin is charged with criminal homicide and endangering the welfare of a child.