2003-12-16

Man pleads guilty in death of 33-day-old

Thursday, December 18, 2003
JIM McBRIDEjim.mcbride@amarillo.com
The Amarillo Globe-News

An Amarillo man pleaded guilty Tuesday to a murder charge in the May beating death of an infant and was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Kelsey Lamar Davis, 29, pleaded guilty to the charge and was sentenced by 47th District Judge Hal Miner.

District Attorney Rebecca King said authorities could have made the charge capital murder because the case involves the death of a child but reached a plea bargain in the case after conferring with the victim's family.

"They have been a big part of it, the mother and the grandmother," King said.

The case was unusual because the slaying occurred in a residence where several deaf people lived.

Police arrested Davis, who is deaf, May 20 after an investigation into the death of 33-day-old Kyle Jordan Bland.

Autopsy results showed the infant died of blunt force trauma to the head, Potter County Justice of the Peace Haven Dysart said earlier.

A neighbor called 911 early May 19 about a family fight at an apartment in the 3100 block of West 11th Avenue.

A second call indicated a baby at the address was having breathing difficulties.

The baby was taken by ambulance to Northwest Texas Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7:30 a.m. that day, Lt. Gary Trupe, coordinator of the Potter-Randall Special Crimes Unit, said earlier.

Investigating the case proved difficult because four adults in the apartment, including Bland's mother, were deaf. Sign language interpreters assisted in the investigation.