JIREH GAYLES - 1 yo (2010) - Newport News VA

Poster's Note: As soon as I read that a boyfriend was watching the child and the infant's death
was suspicious I began to get this nagging feeling that I had read this somewhere before. Deja vu, all over again. IMHO

Police are investigating the death of a 1-year-old boy whose body was
found in an apartment Tuesday evening.
At 4:34 p.m. police were called to the 600 block of Aqua Vista Drive
for a report of an unresponsive child, said Holly McPherson, a Newport
News police spokeswoman. They found the boy in a bedroom and he was
pronounced dead at 4:40 p.m.
The boy’s mother was not at home at the time. The boy and his
5-year-old sister were being cared for by the mother’s boyfriend,
McPherson said. The police department’s special victim’s unit is
investigating the death as suspicious.

The body of the 1-year-old boy found dead Tuesday in Newport News
had signs of trauma, police said, but there have been no arrests made. The
mother's boyfriend was home with the child and the child's 5-year-old
sister in the Aqua Vista apartments Tuesday while the mother was at
work, police said. The Eagle's Nest Learning Center, where the child attended,
is mourning the loss of one of its young students. "A
lot of tears this morning. A lot of tears," said Pandora Carter,
co-owner of the center. A cubby for the boy still contains his
belongings. Carter says he was a wonderful kid. "The smile and
his energy. He had the energy of a 2-year-old," she said. "He was 17
months old. He was always smiling. He was a happy child."

Out at Aqua Vista Apartments, neighbor Carmen Craighead says the toddler and
his 5-year-old sister often played with her 2 young sons. "They
were sweet kids," she said. "She had sweet kids. she was a good mother.
I'm not sure of the relationship she and her boyfriend had."
No one answered the door where the child lived but back at the day care center
they have set up a fund drive. "We really loved him," said ENLC Co-owner Bessie Parker.
"He was like ours one of our own kids."

New details have been released regarding the death of a 17-month-old Newport News boy.
The Newport News medical examiner says the boy, Jireh Gayles, was severely beaten before he died.
The cause of death is listed as head trauma with blunt force abdominal trauma as a contributing factor.
Police say they have evidence on video supporting the claim that the boy's mother's boyfriend is responsible.
The man, Darius Orlando Brown, 22, was arrested and charged Thursday
night with one count of murder and four counts of malicious assault.
Brown was responsible for the Jireh and his 5-year-old sister on Tuesday while their mother was at work.
Police responded to the call regarding an unresponsive child and Jireh
was found with obvious signs of trauma and pronounced dead at the scene.
Brown is currently in custody at the Newport News City Jail.

I am a resident of Newport News and this story has consumed me since I heard of it. My heat has ached for this little boy. WHY are these predators allowed to live? I pray that his killer receives the death penalty but suffer a slow totureous death.

GEVONYA wrote:I am a resident of Newport News and this story has consumed me since I heard of it. My heat has ached for this little boy. WHY are these predators allowed to live? I pray that his killer receives the death penalty but suffer a slow totureous death.

Welcome Gevonya. I'm sorry to say if you read the other cases in this thread you will see it littered with similar cases of mothers who leave their small defenseless children in the care of their young boyfriends. I feel the same sense of anger towards the young man but he is only part of the problem. Young teens and woman who have chosen the life of a single parent should forget about dating while their children are small or if they insist on worrying about their social life they need to keep that separate from their kids. Often they start living with the boyfriend after only knowing them for 5 minutes. I'm guessing that the boyfriend in this case is not the father of either children so not very long ago she was in a serious relationship and bore children. Is it too much to ask that these mothers remain single and keep their children safe? Anyone would find it challenging to raise children who are not related, let alone a young man. Parenting requires an enormous amount of nurturing and patience - not something young men are usually equipped with. I'm fairly sure he did not intend to hurt the child but probably snapped and unfortunately I can easily see how that can happen.

Well after I made my post, I did some digging and discovered that a relative of mine happened to know the mother's sister. Her family members and neighbors had warned her about him due to seeing bruises a few wks ago on Jireh's cheeks. WHY didn't someone report it or take him away from her? No, it's not too much to ask that these mother's forget about dating until their children are older. We MUST sacrifice and do whatever it takes to protect our children.

Doctor says Newport News man insane at time of toddler's slaying

Darius Brown will now go for a separate evaluation at Central State Hospital

November 17, 2010|By Peter Dujardin, pdujardin@dailypress.com | 247-4749


NEWPORT NEWS — A court-appointed psychiatrist has declared that a Newport News man charged with killing a 17-month-old toddler earlier this year "appears" to have been insane at the time of the offense — in what could become a significant challenge to the case against him.

Newport News Commonwealth's Attorney Howard Gwynn on Wednesday asked a judge to order a second, more comprehensive evaluation into Darius Orlando Brown's mental status at the time of the July offense.

Juvenile and Domestic Relations Judge Ronald E. Bensten approved Gwynn's request to send Brown to Central State Hospital, a secure facility in Petersburg, for an extensive in-house evaluation.

The first evaluation, recently completed, was performed by a doctor whose name was not immediately identified. It had been requested by Brown's attorney, Robert Moody IV.

Brown, 22, of Tyler Avenue, is charged with murder and malicious assault in the death of his girlfriend's son, Jireh Jahsean Gayles, at the Aqua Vista Apartments in the Southeast community.

http://articles.dailypress.com/2010-11-17/news/dp-nws-brown-murder-20101117_1_mental-defect-newport-news-man-second-evaluation

Newport News man sentenced to 30 years in toddler's death


August 17, 2012|By Ashley Kelly, akelly@dailypress.com | 757-247-4778

NEWPORT NEWS — Jireh Gayles had human bite marks on his thighs and chest when police found him dead two years ago.

The toddler was cold to the touch when police reached his apartment on July 20, 2010.

The last moments of his life were captured on a cell phone by the person entrusted to take care of him — Darius Orlando Brown.

On Friday, a judge sentenced Brown to 30 years in prison for Jireh's murder.

Brown testified that he should have taken better care of his girlfriend's son, but didn't admit to killing him.

"I apologize that I didn't take the right action that I needed to," said the 24-year-old Brown, before the sentence was pronounced. "I ask the family to forgive me, and I pray for them. I wish I could have done a lot differently."

In June, Brown was found guilty of second-degree murder and felony child neglect in Jireh's death. Newport News Circuit Judge Timothy Fisher sentenced Brown to 40 years on the second-degree murder charge, suspending 20 years. Fisher gave Brown the maximum 10-year sentence on the felony child neglect charge.

Jireh died of inflicted head injuries and a ruptured liver, according to a medical examiner. Brown was dating the boy's mother, but was not his father. He was babysitting Jireh at Aqua Vista Apartments while his mother was at work.

Brown watched Jireh from 6 a.m. to 4:35 p.m. that day. Jireh's injuries occurred minutes to hours before his death, according to a medical examiner, who testified that Jireh had 46 inflicted bruises on his body, from his head to his legs. The toddler also had several fractured ribs.

DNA matching Brown's was found on the bite marks found on the boy's body, according to a forensic scientist who testified during the trial.

Brown's attorney, Assistant Public Defender Earl Wheeler, argued that his client was facing mental issues at the time of the incident and that his mental state should be considered in his sentence. Wheeler requested a sentence of between 13 and 18 years, which was between the low and midpoint of state sentencing guidelines that ranged from 13 to 22 years.

Newport News Commonwealth's Attorney Howard Gwynn asked for the maximum sentence on both counts, requesting a total of 50 years.

Brown was initially charged with first-degree murder, but Fisher found him guilty of the lesser second-degree murder charge in June.

During the trial, prosecutors played 11 cell phone video recordings that Brown provided to police. The video clips showed Jireh struggling to keep his balance and falling down repeatedly.

In one of the clips, as Jireh falls to the ground, Brown is heard saying: "You ain't dead, get yo [expletive] up boy."

Brown then pulls Jireh up by his arm, but he falls down again.

Later that day, police found the boy lifeless on a bed.

http://articles.dailypress.com/2012-08-17/news/dp-nws-brown-child-sentence-20120818_1_circuit-judge-timothy-fisher-jireh-gayles-darius-orlando-brown

The murderer made videos of the BABY dying. He bit him and beat him to death. I don't understand why he was found guilty of second degree murder. He should have been found guilty of first degree murder and received life in prison. What a monster!

BabyJ, you are right.  He deliberately murdered this baby, slowly and deliberately torturing him to death.   How anyone can consider this second degree is beyond me.  I hope his fellow prisoners teach him about torture.

30 years isn't enough.  Who knows how many he will serve before he is out on parole.  He should never be free to murder another baby, he should rot in prison.