MORRIES HILL Jr - 5 Months (2008)/ Convicted: Father; Morries Hill Sr. - New Haven CT

A 19-year-old city man has been charged with risk of injury to a minor in connection with the 2008 death of his 5-month-old son.

Morries D. Hill Sr., of 528 Eastern St., was arraigned on the charge Wednesday.
A Superior Court judge kept his bail at $200,000, which Hill did not post.

Police Lt. Julie Johnson, who heads the department’s
Special Investigations Unit, said despite the arrest, the investigation
remains open and active. The child’s death is a homicide, and no one to
date has been charged in the killing, which a doctor attributed to
“severe physical abuse.”

“By no means is this case closed
because of this arrest,” Johnson said. “This case will remain open
until we have enough evidence to charge someone” with the homicide.

Hill was picked up by New Haven Officer John Palmer and members of the U.S.
Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force Tuesday at the Target store in Milford,
where Hill works.

The arrest came 15 months after Morries Hill
Jr. was found unresponsive in the home that Hill shares with his mother
and brother.

Court records released Wednesday provide a
disturbing account of the child’s injuries. The baby was alive, but
unresponsive, when he arrived at the Yale Pediatric Emergency Room the
morning of Aug. 4, 2008.

Later in the day, a doctor told a
Department of Children and Families social worker that the baby
wouldn’t survive due to his injuries, which included a lacerated liver,
spleen, pancreas and kidneys. He also had retinal hemorrhaging and
significant brain injury, the arrest warrant affidavit says. The doctor
also noted seven rib fractures, some of which appeared to be old.

The probable cause for the warrant largely was based on medical opinions
from doctors and statements made by Hill and his brother.

Medical staff concluded the fatal injuries were inflicted between 11 p.m. Aug.
3 and the morning of Aug. 4, when police say Hill and his then
13-year-old brother were the only people home. Their mother worked the
night shift and wasn’t there, police said.

With two people present, however, detectives have the challenge of determining who
allegedly inflicted the fatal injuries. That would be key in a
manslaughter or murder case, but matters less in a risk of injury case.

Under that statute, a person is guilty of risk of injury to a child if he
“causes or permits” a child to be put in a situation where the child is
endangered. That means even if authorities can’t conclusively show it
was Hill who hurt the baby, he could still be found guilty if they can
prove he knew the child’s safety was at risk.

The young father told detectives nothing happened to the child, who lived with his
mother and was visiting the Hills when he died.

The younger brother told a DCF worker the child was in a bedroom that night and,
when he cried, Hill would go into the room and the infant would stop.
Hill also told a hospital social worker he was the only one who had
access to the child, according to police.

Detective Tammi Means worked on the case from the start, and “never put it on a shelf,” Johnson said.

“It was a tough case from the beginning because the child, at five months
old, obviously can’t tell us what happened to him, and the only two
people in the house really didn’t give us much cooperation. After
several days, they stopped cooperating with the investigation.”

Hill has no criminal record. His attorney, Robert Berke, described him as a
young father who adored his child and “adamantly denies” the
allegations that led to his arrest. A lot of different people helped
take care of the child, the attorney said.

“I certainly would like to have the opportunity to have my own forensic experts examine
the medical records and autopsy to determine the time of injury, which
appear to be the critical issue,” he said Wednesday.

No one answered the door at 528 Eastern St. Wednesday, and there was no sign of activity.

Can't find anything new

posters note:Why wait until 2020 to bring this case to trial?

Morries D. Hill Sr

Activity: Jury Trial Next Court Date: 12/16/2020 10:00 AM

http://www.jud2.ct.gov/crdockets/CaseDetail.aspx?source=Pending&Key=2b6717fd-6969-45bd-adc4-f11d676b2fd0

this case will be thrown out!!!

poohtie wrote:this case will be thrown out!!!

Why do you say that? Do you know something we don't?

he has one of the most well known lawyers in ct and they have no evidence...

In most states, whoever is in charge of the child is held responsible if they are present during the injuries. Sounds like CT needs to amend their laws.

If you read the case of Savannah Hardin, the little girl that was made to run for 3 hours as punishment for eating a candy bar by her grandmother and then died, they are holding her stepmother responsible because she was in charge of her care and was home at the time. Someone needs to be punished for killing this sweet 5 month old baby. He certainly didn't kill himself.

it also doesn't state that the baby had cerebral hypoxia which really caused the babies death and the kid had no record what so ever not even as a minor in other cases this may be true but now there starting to look at the mother to because he had older wounds to...I just hope whoever it is they bring them to justice

poohtie wrote:it also doesn't state that the baby had cerebral hypoxia which really caused the babies death and the kid had no record what so ever not even as a minor in other cases this may be true but now there starting to look at the mother to because he had older wounds to...I just hope whoever it is they bring them to justice

I agree with you too. I hope whoever is responsible for this baby's death is punish. This baby deserves justice.

Man gets 1 year in death of infant son in New Haven; prosecutor cites question of which brother committed crime

By Randall Beach, Register Staff
POSTED: 05/25/12, 12:01 AM EDT

NEW HAVEN -- Prosecutors don't know who killed 5-month-old Morries Hill Jr., but they believe it had to be Morries Hill Sr. or his younger brother.

However, lacking any evidence connecting either of them to the infant's death, Assistant State's Attorney Stacey Miranda Friday reluctantly had to settle for seeking and receiving a sentence of serving one year in prison for the child's father for risk of injury to a minor.

"This is a horrible case," Miranda told Superior Court Judge Roland Fasano. "A year is not enough. We just don't know which one of these two did it."

But, Miranda added, "This is a cover-up. The defendant and his brother know exactly what happened to this child. That's something they'll have to live with for the rest of their lives."

Hill, 22, stood in the courtroom with his head down for nearly the entire session. He wore a white sweater because his supportive family had many months ago posted $200,000 bail.

But when Fasano asked Hill if he wished to say anything, the defendant quietly said he loved his son. He added, "I know I was a good father."

"I have a beautiful young daughter," he noted, "and I love her dearly, and her mother."

However, the mother of the victim, Sarai Beall, also delivered a statement. "For the past four years," she said, "I've been living with a broken heart."

"If you did not do it," she told Hill, "you know who did it. I will never, ever forgive you or your family. One day, you will face the final judgement, because God knows."

Before Miranda laid out the details of the boy's death, she noted Hill had pleaded nolo contendere to the risk of injury charge, accepting a finding of guilty but not necessarily agreeing with the allegations.

Miranda said the child was found unresponsive by police and medical respondents the morning of Aug. 4, 2008. Police said Hill, who at that time was 19, and his brother, then 13, were the only others at the Eastern Street home. The child's mother reportedly was working her night shift job.

Miranda listed the child's injuries: fractured ribs, bruises all over his head and face, a lacerated liver, retinal hemorrhaging and head trauma. The chief state's medical examiner determined the baby died as a result of multiple blunt traumatic injuries.

But Miranda said the father waited up to 90 minutes after becoming aware of the injuries before he called 911.

"This man was responsible for that child," she said. "He knew the baby was injured. He should have called police immediately."

Defense attorney Robert M. Berke disputed the 90-minute figure. He also read excerpts from about a dozen letters attesting to the defendant's "good moral character" and "kind heart." They said he deserved a second chance.

"Morries loved that child with all his heart," his uncle wrote.

The defendant's mother, Sharon Hill, came to the courtroom to read a statement asserting that putting him in prison would "devastate" her son and the family.

"My son has lost his beloved son," she said, and he is still grieving.

"Morries has overcome great obstacles in his life," she added. She said he "stepped up to be a young father," which many other men of his age will not do.

She also said he "enjoys helping others" and "gives his all to anything he dedicates himself to."

Berke noted Morries Hill is a high school graduate and landed retail jobs, securing several promotions. "He is making an effort toward rehabilitation and living a productive life."

But Fasano said he could not agree to the pleas to keep Hill out of prison. Studying photos of the smiling baby, he said, "I can't help but see how well-cared for he was. Then to sustain the type of injuries recited by the state -- it's hard to understand how somebody taking care of this child could not be aware."

Fasano said that while prosecutors could not prove Hill was responsible for the child's injuries, "the state could prove that this defendant was responsible for the delay in seeking treatment for a child in dire straits."

Fasano did say he was impressed by the testimonial letters. "He's from a good family; he has potential. This is not a criminal. This is not a bad kid."

"But under the circumstances," Fasano added, "when seconds could have made the difference, this was the worst sort of judgement, especially given the condition of the child."

"You did not take care of your child," he told Hill. Fasano said he could not "in good conscience" impose a sentence of less than one year to serve in prison.

He then announced a 6-year sentence, to be suspended after Hill serves one year, followed by three years' probation.

Even as Fasano was announcing the sentence, judicial marshals were applying handcuffs to Hill and preparing to lead him away. A woman sitting next to the young victim's mother applauded but was hushed by other marshals.

http://www.nhregister.com/general-news/20120525/man-gets-1-year-in-death-of-infant-son-in-new-haven-prosecutor-cites-question-of-which-brother-committed-crime