A woman whose toddler was murdered by her boyfriend ignored burns on the boy’s body and continued to allow the man to babysit her four children at their Englewood neighborhood home, according to prosecutors.
Dominique Smith, 24, has been charged with felony child endangerment, according to Chicago Police. On Monday, Cook County Judge Adam Bourgeois ordered her held on a $250,000 bond.
Smith’s boyfriend, 28-year-old Dantis Porter, would babysit 1-year-old Johnny Kimble and her three other children—ages 2, 4, and 5—while she was at work, Assistant State’s Attorney Enrique Abraham said at the bond hearing.
On Dec. 23, when Smith came back to the home in the 1100 block of West Marquette Road, Johnny had burns on his legs, prosecutors said.
But Smith, despite urging from relatives, did not take the boy to the hospital.
Instead, she left her children alone with Porter again on Dec. 25, and this time when she got home Johnny had new burns on his torso from a space heater in the home, prosecutors said.
Again, Smith did not take her son to the hospital and continued to allow Porter to babysit, according to prosecutors.
Local
On Jan. 6, Porter beat Johnny so badly that part of the toddler’s skull broke off in the medical examiner’s hand during the autopsy, prosecutors said.
When the toddler was taken to University of Chicago Comer’s Children’s Hospital that night, he had skull fractures, severe brain injury, a lacerated liver, rib fracture, pulmonary contusions and adrenal hemorrhage, in addition to multiple burns in varying stages of healing, prosecutors said.
Johnny never regained consciousness while he was at the pediatric intensive care unit.
He died three days later.
Prosecutors claim Porter told authorities he struck the baby with his hand three times. He has been charged with first-degree murder and on Jan. 23 was ordered held without bond.
When Smith was arrested, she admitted to police that she knew of Johnny’s injuries, but did not take the boy to the hospital because she feared he would be taken away from her, prosecutors said.
As a condition of bond, Smith was ordered not to have unsupervised contact with any child, including her other children. She is next scheduled to appear in court Feb. 13.
