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By Michelle Richardson, Special to the AFRO
A mother has been found guilty of manslaughter and child abuse stemming from the 2014 death of her eight-year-old son.
According to the Baltimore States Attorney’s Office, Tamekia Martin struck Damaud Martin, three-year-old at the time, while he sat on top of a bunk bed with other children, causing him to fall from the top of the bunk bed and hit his head on a nearby TV stand.
The other children playing with the victim at the time, told police that Martin was in another room when she suddenly walked into the room where they were and smacked the boy and then left. Damaud Martin then cried and collapsed.
Baby Damaud was rushed into emergency surgery, but never fully recovered from his injuries. As a result, he developed Cerebal Palsy and was placed in a monitored group home.
At eight-years-old, In 2014, Damaud was found unresponsive by caregivers at the group home. Paramedics were called and declared him dead on the scene.
Baltimore Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide due to the injuries sustained in the 2008 fall caused by Tamekia Martin.
Martin always denied involvement and maintained her innocence throughout the investigation, telling investigators different versions of how Damaud came to be injured.
A worker at the home where Damaud received his care told police, they heard Tamekia whisper to Damaud “I’m so sorry for hurting you”
Martin is scheduled to be sentenced on May 16. She faces 40 years for the death of her child.
There was no attorney listed for Martin in court records.
States Attorney Marilyn Mosby released a statement after the verdict was read.
“As a mother, this case is especially heartbreaking, and I can’t fathom how a parent could inflict such harm on their child. Any mother who callously harms their child and turns their back on them as they cry out for help is a person who deserves to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and removed from society.”
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