17-year-old charged with capital murder in baby’s death

JACKSON, Miss. (WLBT) - A 17-year-old is behind bars in connection to the death of a three-month-old.

According to JPD’s interim police chief, Joseph Wade, the investigation started as a child abuse case. However, as the investigation continued, authorities felt they had enough evidence to charge the teen with capital murder.

“You have a three-month-old that lost his life and now we have a 17-year-old who made a permanent decision that’s going to affect the rest of his life.”

Wade says the original incident took place around May 31st, and the teen was arrested this past Saturday. He says the investigation is still ongoing, and JPD is working with several agencies to make sure justice is served.

“Of course, whenever a child passes, we work in conjunction with DHS and with the hospital to make sure we make the appropriate decision based on where the evidence takes us,” he said. “We felt we had enough on Saturday to charge that 17-year-old with capital murder of the three-month-old.”

“My heart goes out to that family. I cannot even imagine losing a three-month-old baby, so keep them uplifted in your prayers. We’re going to do our due diligence to make sure that he’s held accountable for that action that he took.”

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