CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Putnam County man is being held on a half-million dollars bail after being arrested in the death of his five-week-old son.
Robert Jeremy Smith, 33, of Hurricane, is charged with child abuse causing death. Smith’s son, Madden, was found dead in the back seat of a car parked on Venable Ave. in Kanawha City community of Charleston Wednesday afternoon. Robert Smith was also there bleeding from the neck. Police believe he tried to take his own life.
It’s believed the boy was killed at Smith’s home in Hurricane.
The criminal complaint said the baby died Tuesday but Smith didn’t tell anyone for more than 27 hours because he was afraid of what might happen to him. The complaint also said Smith told investigators, “The baby is dead; I killed the baby.”
The boy suffered multiple skull fractured according to emergency personnel.
Hurricane Police and the West Virginia State Police spent much of Wednesday night waiting on a search warrant to enter the home on Shank Avenue in Hurricane. They obtained the warrant and began their investigation of the crime scene early Thursday morning, but it’s unknown if any evidence was found there.
Smith’s mother told reporters he young victim has a twin sister Madeline who is in the neo-natal intensive care unit at CAMC Women and Children’s Hospital. According to the family she was born with a severe birth defect and had to undergo emergency surgery soon after birth.
The mother also said Smith and his wife have been separated for about a month and it has been a stressful time for the family.
Smith had been previously charged with child neglect in a separate case.