A 22-year-old Seattle man is facing a second-degree murder charge after prosecutors say he violently shook his 4-month-old daughter, causing brain swelling, bleeding inside her skull and retinal hemorrhaging so severe that doctors compared it to injuries seen in a multi-story fall or a car crash ejection.
Dontaevian Marques Murray was charged in connection with his daughter’s death on Sept. 12. According to court records obtained by Law&Crime, prosecutors described the infant as “this tiny helpless infant” who suffered irreparable brain damage that led to her death at her father’s hands.
A King County prosecutor wrote in a Sept. 18 request for bail that physicians at Seattle Children’s Hospital said the extent of the girl’s injuries matched what they’d expect from a fall of several stories or a violent car wreck. The prosecutor called it “the violent and tragic killing of this tiny baby girl” and said it showed the danger Murray posed to those around him.
Fire crews responded to Murray’s home just before 3 a.m. on Sept. 4 after the baby was found unresponsive and not breathing. Murray reportedly told investigators he’d gone to check on her and discovered she was pale, her lips had turned blue, and she was struggling to breathe, taking short, gasping breaths — something he demonstrated for detectives. He also described her eyes as looking off, with one open and the other nearly shut, and neither responding to movement, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Murray allegedly told police he picked the infant up and shook her, demonstrating for detectives how he cradled her against his chest with both arms and bounced her gently. He said he then ran upstairs to get his mother, who started CPR while someone called 911. Paramedics rushed the baby to Seattle Children’s Hospital, where medical staff found extensive damage.
The affidavit states that the girl had bleeding behind her eyes and swelling inside her skull so severe that her brain had begun to herniate. Doctors also found hemorrhages scattered across every section of both eyes — too many, investigators noted, to even count.
Medical staff concluded that the injuries couldn’t be explained by illness or an accident, police said. The infant remained hospitalized for eight days before dying on Sept. 12. Murray was formally charged less than a week later, on Sept. 18.
During questioning, Murray offered a different account of how the injuries occurred, telling detectives he’d stumbled while carrying his daughter up the stairs on the day she was hospitalized. He said he had her in both hands when he slipped, landing on his arms and sliding slightly before standing back up and continuing upstairs. According to the criminal complaint, Murray insisted the baby never fell from his grip during the fall — that she stayed cradled in his arms the entire time.
Murray has entered a not guilty plea in the case.
