TACOMA, Wash. — Tacoma Police confirmed Tuesday that the death of an 8-month-old is being investigated as a homicide.
Jayceon Thomas died at Mary Bridge Hospital on April 12. His little body had bruises and scrapes, and he had fluid coming out of his nose. His father, Iven Thomas, rushed him there, hoping he would get help in time.
"All I was saying was, "baby, you'll be all right," Ivan remembered, with tears in his eyes. "That's what I kept saying, 'You'll be all right.'"
Iven Thomas is not a guy you would expect to see crying. His Facebook profile picture shows a stocky guy, pointing a camera at the mirror for a serious-looking selfie. But then, look at the rest of his profile, and you'll see most of his pictures are with his kids, especially his youngest, Jayceon. You don't see tears there either -- you see laughter and smiles. And when KIRO 7 talked to Iven at his house, looking over some of those pictures, the smiles were back. "Yeah, he was just amazing," Iven says, as he points out videos of Jayceon playing in his walker.
But the tears return quickly as he describes the phone call he got from a friend, who was babysitting Jayceon. She told him he better come and check on the boy -- something was wrong. Initially, Iven did not suspect it was anything serious, but he headed over. When he arrived at his friend's home, he was stunned. "He was motionless, he was not moving. He was just like dead weight, like he was in a coma."
Even after Iven raced to the hospital, things did not get better for Jayceon. Iven asked the doctors to level with him,
"I said, 'Just give it to me straight', you know? I can tell something's wrong when a doctor looks at you and he wants to cry."
Jayceon did not survive. Iven was confused about what happened, until he says the doctor explained, "He said, 'I've seen this more than once, and your kid was shaken to death.'"
Iven says he was still stunned. He had known the babysitter for more than twenty years. He says she has a son close to Jayceon's age, and that's why he asked her to take care of his son. He didn't think she was capable of hurting his boy. But after the incident, he says she admitted she was the only adult in the home but tried to deny she was responsible. Now he wants her arrested.
Tacoma police will not give many details about an open and active investigation. They would say they are following several leads, and they are awaiting autopsy results from the Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office. PCME says it is waiting on the results of a few tests before they can reach an official cause of death.
Meanwhile, Iven is heart-broken-- and angry. "I could accept it if God took him, if it was his time to go," Iven said.
But he cannot accept that someone else may have taken his little boy's life. Now, he's trying to give police the time and cooperation they need. And he expects an arrest.
"It ain't exactly justice for my son, but it's about as close as I can get."
KIRO 7 will stay in touch with detectives and the medical examiner about any developments in the case.
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