ST. PETERSBURG — A man with a history of child abuse used his hands to bludgeon to death a 1-month-old child in late September, police said.
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Jeremiah Dillard, 33, was arrested early Saturday on a charge of first-degree murder in the killing of the infant, who died in the early morning hours of Sept. 24.
According to a police affidavit for his arrest, Dillard was in his apartment complex, near Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Street and 118th Terrace N, and alone with the baby when he handled the infant roughly. Afterward, about 2:20 a.m., he discovered the baby unresponsive in a bassinet.
The baby was taken to an unspecified hospital, where doctors stopped trying to revive the child about 3:20 a.m., police said. A forensic pathologist who examined the baby found broken ribs as well as injuries to the mouth, abdomen, back and buttocks.
The pathologist determined that the baby died of asphyxia with "contributing conditions of blunt trauma and malnutrition," and ruled the case a homicide.
In an interview with detectives, Dillard admitted to being "too tough" with the baby and being responsible for the infant’s death, police said.
The affidavit didn’t state whether Dillard was related to the baby or who the infant’s parents were.
The baby’s name and gender were redacted from the police affidavit, but records from the state Department of Children and Families describe a Sept. 24 incident in which a 1-month-old girl was found dead in circumstances that match what happened in Dillard’s case.
A DCF website listed the case as "under investigation" Saturday night.
This wasn’t the first time Dillard was accused of harming a child.
Records show that, as a 27-year-old in 2011, he was arrested in Alachua County on a charge of felony child abuse related to "excessive discipline" of a 14-year-old niece. He ultimately pleaded no contest to the charge, and a judge withheld a formal finding of guilt in the case.
It wasn’t clear Saturday why St. Petersburg police waited more than four months before taking Dillard into custody.
It was also unclear whether DCF was monitoring Dillard ahead of the incident or involved with the infant before the child’s death.
A spokeswoman for the agency said more details would be available Monday.
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