Unnamed Boy - 6 mo. / accused boyfried: Danquan Davis, Atlantic City NJ

19-year-old charged with shaking baby to death







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By David Chang and Danielle Johnson, NBC10.com

A 19-year-old New Jersey man will appear in court Monday after being charged with shaking his girlfriend's baby to death, according to the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office.

Daquan Davis is charged with manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a child.

Police say Davis was caring for the 6-month-old infant Friday morning at School House Apartments on North Martin Luther King Boulevard in Atlantic City, N.J., while the child’s mother was at work.

Police say when she returned home around 4 a.m., she found her son unresponsive and called police. The baby was pronounced dead. Investigators believe Davis shook the baby, causing his death.

In an NBC10 exclusive interview, the child’s mother, Ebony Stewart, described the horrific discovery she made when she returned home.

“I noticed my son wasn’t breathing. I looked closer and he wasn’t breathing. His face was purple and frozen cold.”

Stewart said Davis acted as if nothing had happened.

“He sat there saying, 'Everything will be alright …We’re in this together … I know you’re hurting. I am here for you,'" Stewart said.

One of the woman's neighbors appeared rattled by the news: "I live in this building, and that same little baby, just two weeks ago, I told the mom how cute the baby was. And just to hear this, right now, I don't know what to think, I really don't,” Lloyd Phillips told NBC's Atlantic City affiliate.

Davis is currently being held on $750,000 bail.

“He sat there saying, 'Everything will be alright …We’re in this together … I know you’re hurting. I am here for you,'" Stewart said.

Nothing will ever be alright again

Tempers flare at hearing for accused baby killer in NJ

Monday, September 17, 2012
Action News

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - September 17, 2012 (WPVI) -- Tempers flared at a court hearing Monday for an Atlantic City man charged in the death of his girlfriend's baby.

Aggravated manslaughter charges were filed Saturday against 19-year-old Daquan Davis.

Prosecutors say Davis shook his girlfriend's infant son to death.

Davis also faces child endangerment charges in the death of the 6-month-old child.

Acting County Prosecutor Jim McClain says Davis was caring for the infant while the child's mother was at work. When she returned home around 4 a.m. Friday, she found the boy was unresponsive and called 911.

The child was pronounced dead a short time later, and authorities were notified.

A joint investigation by the prosecutor's office and Atlantic City authorities ensued, and Davis was arrested late Friday night.

He is being held on $750,000 bail.

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=8814054

Poster's note: Baby's name is Yusuf E'Miy Stewart-Ali Jr.

Suspect Daquan Davis has bail reduced in Atlantic City shaken-infant death

Posted: | Updated: 7:32 am, Wed Oct 10, 2012.

MAYS LANDING — An Atlantic County Superior Court judge reduced the bail Tuesday for Daquan Davis, the 19-year-old Atlantic City man accused of shaking a baby to death last month.

Davis allegedly shook 6-month-old Yusuf E'Miy Stewart-Ali Jr. multiple times while the infant was in his care inside his girlfriend’s Schoolhouse Apartments residence in Atlantic City overnight Sept. 13. When the mother, Ebony Stewart, returned home at about 3:45 a.m. Sept. 14, she found the boy unresponsive and called 911. Yusuf was pronounced dead a short time later.
Paid-300x250-Atlantic County Democrats-HT

Davis’ bail was originally set at $750,000 cash only. In a Tuesday morning hearing, Judge Kyran Connor lowered that to $500,000 cash or bond.

In the hearing, Joseph Levin, Davis’ attorney, said that his client’s ties to the community mitigate a flight risk, but Pam D’Arcy, chief assistant prosecutor, said that the severity of the crime and an admission by Davis to investigators that he took the baby in his arms and shook it “like a basketball” should be taken into account when setting bail.

Many of Davis’ family and friends attended the hearing Tuesday, which Levin noted as a sign of Davis’ ties.

“He’s been here his entire life,” he said. “He has nowhere else to go.”

Levin also said Davis has never failed to attend a court hearing despite a number of juvenile arrests, suggesting it would be appropriate to place Davis under house arrest with a GPS tracking device.

D’Arcy said Davis’ extensive record — including arrests on charges of robbery, burglary and fighting — show his “propensity for violence.”

In addition to lowering the bail, Connor also removed the cash-only clause. A requirement that Davis have no direct or indirect contact with the victim’s family remains in place.

Davis, who graduated from Atlantic City High School in June, has been charged with aggravated manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a child. Although authorities identified him as Daquan Davis, Stewart said her boyfriend’s name is Da’Quon Callaway. He is not the baby’s father.

Family members who attended Tuesday’s hearing declined to comment.

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/communities/atlantic-city_pleasantville_brigantine/suspect-daquan-davis-has-bail-reduced-in-atlantic-city-shaken/article_ff5814e6-1220-11e2-91b0-0019bb2963f4.html