9-month-old girl died after her mother left her 31-year-old boyfriend, previously charged for injuring his son, in charge of her three children before he beat the infant to death; boyfriend arrested

Artis was arrested and charged in connection with the death of the infant girl, who was found unresponsive in her crib on January 25. The medical examiner ruled the child’s death a homicide after an autopsy revealed that the baby girl had suffered a “significant skull fracture” caused by blunt force trauma. At the time of the incident, Artis was caring for the girl and her two siblings, a 6-year-old and a 2-year-old, while their mother went out with a friend the night before. Authorities say the mother left the three children under his supervision, unaware that Artis had a disturbing history: he had previously been indicted for the death of his 17-month-old son, a case that was initially dismissed due to a missing witness but later reopened.

According to an arrest affidavit, Artis told police he woke around 10 a.m. and went to prepare a bottle for the baby. When he checked the crib, he said the infant was no longer breathing. He then woke up the baby’s mother, who found her daughter cold to the touch. A 911 call was placed at 10:30 a.m., and emergency personnel arrived at the apartment complex by 10:43 a.m. The child was pronounced dead just one minute later, at 10:44 a.m.

Initially, investigators saw no visible signs of injury and suspected no foul play. But when the autopsy results came in two days later, they painted a grim picture of what had really happened that night. Later, police discovered that Artis had communicated with a paralegal and a friend regarding the baby’s death over 30 minutes prior to the 911 call. Surveillance footage from a neighbor’s Ring camera also showed Artis outside the apartment using his phone around 9:33 a.m., further undermining his timeline of events.

The tragedy of this infant’s death echoes a past case involving Artis. In 2020, Artis’ 17-month-old son died as a result of a skull fracture he inflicted in 2018. Artis was charged with injury to a child, accused of striking the boy, failing to secure him in a vehicle properly, and neglecting to seek medical help. That case was dismissed in 2023 due to a missing witness just before trial but was later reopened.

Artis’s history, however, wasn’t immediately known to the baby girl’s mother. When he was first questioned by police on January 25, Artis lied about his identity, giving officers a fake name in an attempt to hide his criminal history. It wasn’t until he and the mother returned to police headquarters on January 29 that detectives uncovered his real identity and the outstanding warrant from the 2018 case. When confronted at police headquarters, Artis declined to answer any further questions without an attorney present. He was immediately arrested and booked into the county adult detention center, where he remains held on a $1 million bond.

The child’s mother told investigators she returned home shortly before midnight on January 25. She said her baby was standing in the crib and smiling. After taking a shower, she saw the child asleep and went to bed with Artis around 3 a.m. She said Artis woke her after 10 a.m. in a panic, claiming the child wasn’t breathing. But text messages, calls, and video footage suggest Artis had been aware of the child’s condition for nearly an hour before alerting her or emergency services. As the investigation continues, prosecutors may revisit Artis’s prior case in light of these new allegations. Meanwhile, a mother is left mourning a life lost under the roof of someone she trusted—unaware that history was repeating itself.