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Mom Charged After Boyfriend Beat Her 1-Year-Old to Death, Prosecutors Say

By Erica Demarest | January 26, 2015 4:11pm
 Dominique Smith, 24, was charged with child endangerment after her boyfriend allegedly killed her son.
Dominique Smith, 24, was charged with child endangerment after her boyfriend allegedly killed her son.
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Chicago Police Department

COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A South Side mom whose toddler was beaten to death earlier this month knew her boyfriend hurt the boy before and didn't report it, prosecutors said Monday.

Dominique Smith, 24, told police she was afraid her son would be taken away if she brought him to a hospital, Assistant State's Attorney Enrique Abraham said during a bond hearing.

Tears streamed down Smith's face Monday afternoon as she stood before Cook County Judge Adam Bourgeois on a charge of felony child endangerment.

Prosecutors said Smith often left her kids alone with boyfriend Dantis Porter, 28, when she went to work. More than once in December and January, Smith came home to find burns on 1-year-old Johnny Kimble's body.

Despite pleas from relatives, Smith never took her son to see a doctor, Abraham said.

When Smith got home about 7:15 p.m. on Jan. 6, she found Johnny slumped over and unresponsive in his stroller, prosecutors said. The boy had been beaten so badly that he had a cracked skull, broken ribs and internal bleeding.

Smith called 911, and Johnny died three days later at Comer Children's Hospital.

Porter told police he had hit Johnny multiple times because the boy wouldn't stop crying, prosecutors said. Porter was held without bail on murder and aggravated battery charges.

Smith was arrested Sunday.

On Monday, Bourgeois ordered her held in lieu of $250,000 bail. She's not allowed to contact her three other children, ages 2, 4 and 5, without supervision, he said.

The same judge presided over Porter's first bond hearing on Jan. 9.

"I may get in trouble for saying this," Bourgeois said at the time, "but, sir, you are a monster."

An autopsy listed Johnny's cause of death as closed head injuries due to blunt force impact, prosecutors said. Significant contributing factors included multiple injuries in various stages of healing.

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