Man Gets Life Sentence In Death Of 4-Month-Old Boy
BRANDON TWP. (AP) - A 27-year-old Oakland County man will spend the rest of his life in prison in the death of his ex-girlfriend's 4-month-old son.
Donald Raleigh was sentenced Wednesday in Oakland County Circuit Court. He was charged with first-degree felony murder and first-degree child abuse in the slaying of Dominic Carrette.
Dominic was dropped Oct. 25, 2012 on the basement floor of the home in the 3000 block of Hidden Hills Lane in Brandon Township that Raleigh shared with Ashley Spencer, the child's mother. He later died at a hospital.
"On October 25, it all became too much for (Raleigh) and he lashed out, struck out, at the 4-month-old child," Prosecutor Kelly Collins said during trial. "The defendant demolished Dominic's skull, causing his very untimely, brutal and fast death."
An autopsy listed the cause of death as blunt force trauma to the head.
"The blunt force is consistent with the use of extreme force when Dominic's head was smashed against a hard surface," Collins said, adding that the child's skill was misshapen with several different fractures.
Raleigh, who was the only adult in the home at the time, eventually told investigators he threw the child to the ground, and then dropped him a second time on purpose. He explained his actions by saying that caring for the baby as a stay-at-home dad, along with his own 10-year-old daughter, "was too much."
Raleigh is not the Dominic's biological father.
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