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4:07 p.m. • 2-12-12

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911 caller: 'I think this baby's dead'


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DonJuan Smith
DonJuan Smith

A 2-year-old who died Wednesday apparently was not breathing when his caretaker took him to a neighbor's house to call 911, according to the recording of the call, which was released Friday afternoon.

Raleigh police have declined to talk about the case involving the unidentified toddler and the man charged with murder in the case, DonJuan Cassadary Smith Jr., 24.

But the seven-minute recording provides new information about the case, including how the neighbor performed CPR on the child at the direction of the dispatcher and what was happening before his death

"He doesn't look like he's breathing at all, to me," the caller tells the operator.

When asked to look in the child's mouth for anything obstructing his airway, she responds, 'No sir, I think this baby's dead."

She performs CPR for more than five minutes until emergency personnel arrive at her home at the Walnut Ridge Apartments at 3320 Hewberry Lane.

Crews were dispatched to the scene shortly before 7:30 p.m. for a code-blue call, meaning the child was not breathing.

He was pronounced dead a short time later.

Meanwhile Friday, Smith, of 3320 Hewberry Lane, Apt. 104, who sources say is the child's mother's boyfriend, made his first court appearance on the murder charge. He was denied bond and a public defender was appointed for him.

Smith was initially charged with involuntary manslaughter, but after further investigation, police charged him with murder.

In the call, he says he had given the child some pizza and gave him a bath when he started throwing up.

"I figured it was the pizza," Smith tells the dispatcher. "I dressed him, and after he threw up, I went – I changed his diaper … I came back to put the diaper on him, he had defecated again."

That's when he went to his neighbor's house.

"He's just, like, not moving. He's just real weak," Smith says.

RELATED TOPICS: Raleigh

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If he choked on the pizza, that could cause vomiting...If he neglected to get the baby help immediately after he started choking...he is immediately a baby murderer. Maybe the man was scared...it wasnt his kid, after all...he went to the neighbors house, so maybe he didnt have a phone...there is too much speculations. I had a baby out of wedlock. before me and my husband got married, GUESS WHAT, he was just my boyfriend...does that make me negligent for leaving my son with him? Not all boyfriends are murders, just like not all men are. Please guys..there is a baby that just died and all you can do is come to a conclusion of what could have possibly happened...A BABY IS DEAD...where is the concern for the babys mom, who just lost her son. SHAME ON YOU!

McLovin you are so very right. Let's just wait and see.

"crocker_mom ... Of those children killed by someone other than their parent, 81% were killed by males.

The math supports my assertions and concerns. The majority of people killing children are men."

====================

You have no idea what you are talking about. There is a story about a woman killing her own kid(s), as in 2 or 3, at least once a month. And further more, what about all of the abortions that are performed on a daily basis . In other words like I said, you have no idea what your talking about.

"The girlfriend should have been more concerned about the child than the boyfriend. Did she bother to marry the father? Another societal breakdown resulting in death." Cricket at the lake

Now that is a sweeping judgment. Did it ever occur to you that maybe they were married once and the child's biological father died, and now the mother has a new boyfriend? There are many, many possibilities for a situation such as this. Before any of us make judgments and conclusions, we need to consider options and possibilities, and if there are alternatives, then perhaps we need to keep our judgments to ourselves and focus instead on how we can help.

Ya'll need to calm down. We don't even know for sure how the child died but you are all convinced the boyfriend intentionally killed him. You don't know what happened. You weren't there! Just sit back and wait for the investigation to unfold before you jump to conclusions!

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