7-week-old is suffocated and dies months later, California officials say. Dad convicted
A man has been convicted more than a year after the death of his infant son, California prosecutors say.
A jury found Christopher Lashun Richmond, 31, guilty of multiple charges related to the death of his son, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said in an Oct. 9 news release.
“The death of this defenseless baby is unconscionable and one of the most heinous crimes an individual can commit,” District Attorney George Gascón said in the release.
Before the baby boy was born, Richmond was accused of pushing his “baby’s mother to the ground during her pregnancy,” prosecutors said.
Months later, Richmond was caring for his infant son alone in Pasadena on Sept. 25, 2022, prosecutors said.
The boy’s mother had gone back to work, and “Richmond abused the boy to get back at the mother because she wasn’t giving him the attention he wanted and because he was doing ‘a mom’s job,’” prosecutor Jon Hatami said, Southern California News Group reported.
Richmond is accused of depriving “the infant of oxygen, causing him to go into cardiac arrest,” prosecutors said.
“Suffocation ... he was suffocated,” prosecutor Brian Rosenberg said during opening statements, KABC reported.
When first responders arrived, they found the unconscious baby was not breathing, prosecutors said.
He was “taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries,” prosecutors said.
The baby was pronounced dead on Feb. 17, 2023, after being taken off life support after months in the hospital, according to prosecutors.
“He was a beautiful baby, and he was loved by his mother and his brother,” Hatami said during closing arguments, Southern California News Group reported.
Eight months later, Richmond was charged with murder; assault on a child causing death, injuring a spouse, cohabitant, fiancé, boyfriend, girlfriend, or child’s parent; and assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury.
After nine hours of deliberation, the jury deadlocked 11-1 on the murder charge, prosecutors said.
The jury did, however, find Richmond guilty of assault on a child causing death and of injuring a spouse, cohabitant, fiancé, boyfriend, girlfriend, or child’s parent, prosecutors said.
Richmond, who is expected to appear in court again on Dec. 13, could face a 26 years to life prison sentence, prosecutors said.
This story was originally published October 9, 2024 at 3:58 PM with the headline "7-week-old is suffocated and dies months later, California officials say. Dad convicted."
