"Newborn John" HOBGOOD-BRADLEY - 4 Months - Marydel/ Easton MD

Posted: Tuesday, March 6, 2012 12:00 am | Updated: 6:37 am, Tue Mar 6, 2012.

A Marydel man has been charged with first-degree child abuse,
following the death of his 4-month-old adopted son, the Caroline County
Sheriff's Office reported.

Police said Justin Alexander Bradley, 26, of 17766 Cool
Spring Road in Marydel is being held at the Caroline County Detention
Center on $1 million bond.

Police said they responded to Bradley's home just
after midnight Saturday for a report of a 4-month-old child not
breathing. Caroline County Emergency Medical Services personnel and the
Marydel Volunteer Fire Company also responded.

The infant was in cardiac arrest upon arrival of
EMS personnel, police said, and was taken by ambulance to Kent General
Hospital in Dover, Del., where he was pronounced dead.

Police said the Delaware Medical Examiner's
Office performed an autopsy and ruled the death a homicide, caused by
blunt force trauma to the head.

Bradley was charged with first-degree child abuse
resulting in death, manslaughter, first- and second-degree assault,
neglect of a minor and reckless endangerment.

According to a statement filed in Caroline County
District Court by an investigating sheriff's deputy, Bradley is married
to the infant's mother, Brandy Lynn Hobgood-Bradley, and is the
infant's adoptive father, with full care and custody rights.

Hobgood-Bradley told police she left for work
around 2:45 p.m. Friday, leaving Bradley in charge of three children:
the infant, a 2-year-old and a 7-year-old.

Hobgood-Bradley said she tried unsuccessfully to
call her husband several times near the end of her shift. When she got
home at 12:10 a.m. Saturday, she found Bradley passed out on his bed and
the infant in a playpen in the same room, not breathing.

After calling 911, Hobgood-Bradley tried to perform CPR on the infant.

The statement said Bradley told police he took
synthetic marijuana, Hydrocodone and seven to 12 shots of Captain Morgan
rum after his wife left for work.

Bradley said he put the two older children to bed
around 10:30 p.m., and then passed out in his bed at 10:45 p.m., with
the infant on the bed with him.

Bradley said he does not remember anything after that until his wife got home, including how the infant got into the playpen.

The statement said Bradley said he did not know what caused the infant's death, but he accepted responsibility.

The two older children have been placed with family members by the Caroline County Department of Social Services, police said.

Police said they were also assisted by the
Caroline County State's Attorney's Office, the Maryland State Police
Crime Lab and the Delaware State Medical Examiner's Office throughout
the investigation, which is ongoing.

Bradley is set to appear April 2 in Caroline County District Court for a preliminary hearing.

http://www.stardem.com/a/article_fae33eff-e5e5-57fb-8597-9a1dd2e77840.html

JUSTIN ALEXANDER BRADLEY
Inmate Number: 407950
Date Of Birth: 07/31/1985
State: MD
Current Location: Maryland Correctional Training Center