BRYSON GUADAGNO - 3 Months (2011)/ Convicted: Charles Dowell (Mother's BF) - Hobe Sound FL

STUART —

Injuries
allegedly inflicted by a Hobe Sound man on a 3-month-old boy were more
consistent with those found in "traffic crash" victims than in an
accidental fall, according to a Stuart Police Department complaint
affidavit.
In the 13-page report released Thursday afternoon,
3-month-old Bryson Guadagno had fatal skull fractures, bruising from the
top of his head to the base of his neck, detached retinas, broken legs
and hemorrhaging on his right elbow and right ankle.
Some of the broken bones were new, others old.
"Bryson was enduring serious abuse, which is indicated by the broken bones in different states of healing," the report states.
Police
on Wednesday charged Bryson's mother's boyfriend, Charles William
Dowell Jr., 24, of the 8700 block of Southeast Jardin Street in Hobe
Sound, with first-degree murder and aggravated battery of a child for
the Jan. 28, 2011 death of Bryson.
The District 19 Medical
Examiner's Office determined the child died from blunt head trauma and
ruled the death a homicide, a police news release states.
As of Thursday, Dowell was being held at the Martin County Jail without bail.
The
case started Jan. 28, 2011, when police responded to St. Mary's Medical
Center in West Palm Beach after the infant was flown there in critical
condition for trouble breathing, the report states.
The child died after he was removed from life support when doctors determined he didn't have any brain activity.
According
to an autopsy performed by Dr. Linda O'Neil of the Medical Examiner's
Office, Bryson had two skull fractures on the left side of his head and
one on the right side.
"Dr. O'Neil advised that after the serious
impact that caused the 4 1/2-inch gaping fracture, Bryson would have
undergone an immediate change. Dr. O'Neil advised Bryson would have been
unresponsive, had difficulty breathing, possible seizures and in a
state of distress," the report states. "Dr. O'Neil believed this injury
occurred (Jan. 26, 2011) and resulted in his death."
The alleged abuse took place while Dowell and the child's mother was living in Stuart, but they later moved.
Exactly
how the child was injured is unclear as Dowell and the child's mother
gave different accounts including a fall from a bed and the child
hitting his head during a bath, the report states.
Only Dowell,
the child's mother and the mother's sister had direct contact with the
child when the injuries occurred, the report states.
On Jan. 26,
2011, according to the report, Dowell was alone with the child for up to
an hour before the mother returned from dropping the aunt off at night
classes. When the mother returned she said the child was fussy during a
bath and she put him down for bed. Later when she checked on him, she
noticed he was "not breathing right," wheezing and trying to catch his
breath. The child's eyes were closed and he was not responding to their
touch.
Dowell and the child's mother went to pick up the aunt from night classes instead of taking the child to the hospital.
The
aunt said Dowell was holding the child with the infant's head facing
the ceiling and repetitively said to the child, "Stop that, stop that,
you can breathe," the report states.
The couple returned to their
apartment instead of taking the child to Martin Hospital South, which
was near the college campus, because the mother wanted to see if the
child's condition would improve, the report states. Surveillance records
show the mother and Dowell entered Martin Medical Center at 8:39 p.m.
They did not tell staff they had an emergency, but signed in and waited,
the report states.
Hospital records showed the child had a
temperature of 101.4 degrees and his legs were extended and stiff, with
pupils dilated, sluggish and almost nonreactive. At 9:50 p.m., the child
was flown to St. Mary's where he died two days later after being
removed from life support, the report states.
In an interview with detectives, Dowell said he used roxycodone earlier in the day that Bryson was injured.
When
detectives asked if while under the influence of the drug he could have
injured the child, he said, "I could have, but I know that I didn't."
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/news/crime-law/stuart-police-report-infant-endured-serious-abuse-/nPy7L/

How does someone not take their 3 month old, who is having difficulty breathing, to a hospital? Only if that someone is guilty as sin and knows it!

Martin Co. Man accused of killing infant stands trial 4 years later

Published  12:48 PM EDT Mar 26, 2015

MARTIN COUNTY, Fla. —A trial is now underway for the Martin County man accused of beating his girlfriend's infant to death in 2011.

Charles Dowell, Jr. is charged with first degree murder and was arrested in 2012 after a year long investigation by Stuart police concluded he delivered deadly blows to the three month old child.

Investigators said the child was found badly beaten inside the family's Martin County home in January 2011.

The child was ultimately flown to St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach where doctors determined the baby would not survive due to severe brain swelling.

The boy's mother, Skyler French, was later charged with accessory after the fact to murder.

Dowell initially told investigators the boy fell in the home, causing the injury to his head.

The medical examiner ruled the injuries were not consistent with a fall, and looked more like injuries sustained in a vehicle wreck.

http://www.wpbf.com/news/martin-co-man-accused-of-killing-infant-stands-trial-4-years-later/32028186

Dowell sentenced to life in prison in beating death of infant

8:38 PM, Mar 30, 2015
By Paul Ivice

STUART — Shortly after he was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of his girlfriend's infant son, Charles Dowell became belligerent during his sentencing.

A Circuit Court jury in Martin County had deliberated less than an hour before deciding Dowell was guilty of first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse in the January 2011 beating death of 3-month-old Bryson Guadagno.

Because first-degree murder carries an automatic sentence of life in prison without parole, attorneys on both sides agreed that Circuit Judge Elizabeth Metzger should proceed to Dowell's sentencing.

Dowell, however, became belligerent, telling the judge, "You didn't let my case be heard. Everything my lawyers tried to bring up you …" before Assistant Public Defender John Hetherington silenced him.

When French's mother, Lisa Mayo, began her comments to the judge, Dowell interrupted her with an obscenity-laced tirade, blaming French for the murder.

When Metzger asked Dowell if he wanted to waive his right to attend his sentencing and be removed from the courtroom, he replied: "Yes, I do. I'm not waiving my rights; I object to everything."

In addition to the life term, Dowell was sentenced to 30 years on the aggravated child abuse charge.

The infant's mother, Skyler French, 22, has pleaded no contest to child abuse and accessory to murder after the fact, Metzger tentatively set her sentencing for Wednesday, pending the availability of her attorney. The accessory charge carries a maximum sentence of 30 years.

French's sentencing had been postponed several times because prosecutors said she was a material witness against Dowell, but they never called her to testify.

Dowell's defense attorney, Jordan Showe, tried to call French as a witness Friday, but with the jury out of the courtroom she invoked her Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination.

Assistant State Attorney Steve Gosnell conceded that French's testimony would add little to their case, which focused mostly on "the endless string of lies" Dowell told investigators over an 18-month period.

Police first interviewed Dowell after the baby was taken by ambulance from the apartment at St. Lucie Place, now Ocean Pointe — an apartment the couple shared with French's younger sister — to the Martin Hospital South emergency room on Jan. 26, 2011, with what French passively told nurses were "breathing problems."

At that point, Dowell denied he was alone with the baby during the time police believe the baby was injured. Dowell said he and French were innocent, and suggested that her sister might have hurt the boy.

In subsequent interviews, Dowell pointed the finger at French's mother and grandmother.

The last interview was after his arrest on July 18, 2012, when Dowell admitted Bryson might have been injured when he dropped the baby while bathing him.

In his closing argument, Chief Assistant State Attorney Tom Bakkedahl recounted to the jury of six men and six women the sequence of different stories Dowell told investigators.

"They (police) kept confronting him with evidence, the truth, so his story must evolve to fit the truth, but not too much," Bakkedahl said.

In his closing, Showe unsuccessfully tried to pin the blame of French, saying she never bonded with the child, did not act like a concerned or grieving mother and manipulated Dowell into taking the blame.

"Who has the most to gain?" Showe said. "He (Dowell) could just break up with her (French) and move on. Skyler can't break up with Bryson."

After the sentencing, Bakkedahl said: "He (Dowell) showed his true colors. That's the kind of person who would murder a 3-month-old baby."

Collins, French's sister, who has "Bryson" tattooed below her right shoulder, said prosecutors and the jury "definitely brought justice for my nephew.

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/local-news/martin-county/crime/dowell-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-in-beating-death-of-infant_77145941