Police say the baby appeared “extremely malnourished” when they responded to the home in Mesquite.
MESQUITE, Texas — A Mesquite father has been arrested and charged with murder after a nine-month-old child was found dead and appeared to be malnourished, police say.
Officials responded to a call Friday about an unresponsive nine-month-old child in the 3500 block of Byrd Drive and say fire officials found the child was dead and appeared to be “extremely malnourished,” according to a news release from police.
Dispatch told responding officers the family had attempted CPR on the child multiple times to no avail, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
Officers spoke with the child’s father, Leon Johnson, 22, who told them the child had not been eating for a couple of days and had been throwing up, per an affidavit. He said he’d been trying to supplement with Pedialyte, but was concerned the child could overdose, according to the affidavit.
Johnson lived at the home with the baby, his other child, and his sister, the affidavit shows.
Johnson was booked into the Dallas County Jail Saturday on a complaint of capital murder of a person under 10 years of age, police and jail records show.
A source with the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services (DFPS) says the family has not had a history with DFPS and the department did not remove any siblings from the home. The department is working with law enforcement to investigate the incident.
No other details were immediately available. WFAA will update this story as additional information becomes available.