Man Claims He Accidentally Kicked 6-Month-Old Daughter To Death In His Sleep

A Columbia man claims he accidentally kicked his 6-month-old daughter to death in his sleep. According to a police statement, Cortavia Emon Smith, 20, was arrested by police after his infant daughter went into cardiac arrest and died.

The Columbian Missourian is reporting that the infant was found with severe bruises on her head and upper torso. She was taken to the University of Missouri Women’s and Children’s Hospital where she was certified dead.

The 20-year-old man told police officers that he took his infant daughter from her crib when she started crying in the middle of the night. According to him, he placed her at the foot of the bed, where his feet were and went back to sleep.

In his police statement, Smith said he woke up from a bad dream to find the baby unresponsive and with red splotches on her face.

He said he took the child to the mother’s workplace where she performed CPR. Smith, who was the one that called the police, revealed in his statement that he usually kicked out in his sleep. The 20-year-old also confessed that he had been smoking marijuana when he drove the girl’s mother to work.

Cortavia Smith was charged with endangering the welfare of a child by creating substantial risk. He was saddled with a $500,000 bond. However, the 20-year-old implored the judge to reduce his bond so that he could be released. According to Smith, he was “missing a lot of work and school.”

The judge declined his request. His next court appearance has been penciled for April 18.

This is not the first time that a baby would allegedly die by accident. Jennifer Wroubel ran a bath for her 7-month-old baby and got in the tub with him when he started to cry. An America Now story says Jennifer fell asleep with the infant still in the tub. And when she woke up, her baby was lying face down in the water.

Another story with a tragic ending revolved around Erika Tomassian, who collapsed and died as she was feeding her 1-year-old-son in a high-chair. According to the Daily Mail story, the baby fatally choked on the food in his mouth.

John Abernathy died after his mother fell asleep while breastfeeding him. Hello Magazine is reporting that the baby slipped from her breast into blankets on the bed and suffocated.