Charges: Orancy Chea, 24, Accused Of Killing 4-Week-Old Baby That Was Badly Injured
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Orancy Chea -- a 24-year-old St. Paul man -- has been charged with second-degree murder in connection to the death of a 4-week-old baby.
A criminal complaint filed in Ramsey County court says medics were called to an apartment building on Stillwater Avenue in St. Paul last Thursday at around 11 a.m. Notes from the 911 call say that a 4-week-old infant was unconscious and had a fever of 103 degrees.
The baby was taken to Children's Hospital, where it was pronounced dead just before midnight. A doctor then informed the medical examiner's office that the baby "may have had an old fractured rib injury."
The Ramsey County Medical Examiner's Office conducted an autopsy on Friday. That examination of the body revealed: "a lacerated liver, lung contusion, broken ribs (both new and healing), a skull fracture, brain bleed, internal abdominal bleeding, and bruises to the head," according to a criminal complaint.
The baby's manner of death was ruled a homicide, caused by the skull fracture.
Investigators then spoke with a neighbor of Chea's who said they heard "sounds of pounding, and a baby crying from the apartment the night before." The neighbor said they had not heard a baby crying in the past and were unaware a baby was even living there. The crying lasted for 10 to 15 minutes, and the neighbor described "three to four cycles of pounding that lasted a minute when the baby cried," comparable to "the sound of someone striking a wall."
After these revelations, court documents say Chea agreed to speak to police. Investigators say he eventually admitted that "he'd caused the injuries and nobody else was responsible." He said it happened on Thursday while his partner was asleep; saying the baby was crying and Chea threw it down on its back because he got mad.
He told police the baby hit his head on a carpeted floor. When asked to demonstrate what happened, Chea then allegedly stood up and made a dropping motion from the height of his waist.