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8:34 a.m. • 2-11-12

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Trial begins in beating death of 2-year-old


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DonJuan Smith
DonJuan Smith

Prosecutors began presenting evidence this week in the trial of a Raleigh man accused of killing a 2-year-old boy who had been left in his care.

DonJuan Cassadary Smith Jr., 24, faces one count of murder and one count of felony child abuse in the May 14 death of Charvis "Junior" Dublin.

The toddler was not breathing when Smith took him to a neighbor's house to call 911, according to the recording of the call.

Prosecutors say the boy was beaten to death.

Smith told dispatchers in the 911 call that he had given the child some pizza and gave him a bath when he started throwing up.

The neighbor performed CPR for more than five minutes until emergency personnel arrived at her home.

The child was pronounced dead a short time later.

RELATED TOPICS: Raleigh

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bigUNCfan: True. I completely agree with you, however I would much rather be fired from my job than to lose my child due to my own negligence. Obviously this mother did not know this man as well as she thought she did. Horrible mistake that she will have to live with for the rest of her life. This poor baby...Just makes me sick.

May he never close his eyes without the vision of that child being seared into his mind, over and over, forever and ever.

Is Mom on trail, too? I know you can't help what other people do, but you do choose with whom your children are with.

"you need to make other arrangements and maybe miss a day of work or whatever. "

Problem is most folks in that situation if they miss a day or work, they are fired. Most folks don't have the luxury of missing a day of work without advance notice.

This just makes me sick. Why do women seem to think that it's okay to leave their child with just anyone? You have to be very careful who you decide to leave your child with and if you don't have someone that you feel is responsible enough to take care of your child, you need to make other arrangements and maybe miss a day of work or whatever. This happens far too often when children are left in the care of others. Makes me very sad.

I know someone who was almost seated on this jury. It would be a tough trial to sit through!!

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